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Showing posts from January, 2025

Gustave Caillebotte at the Musée d'Orsay

  Intėrieur (Interior) 1880 Private Collection The Caillebotte family lived comfortably at 31 rue Miromesnil in the fashionable Opéra quarter. In his paintings Gustave gives us a view of 19th century middle class interiors. Gustave, René and Martial junior were three brothers. After the death of Martial, the father, in 1874, life went on, albeit with a rather funereal atmosphere. In the painting below, Madame is being served while René tucks into his lunch a glass of wine awaits Gustave who is the observer of the scene. Thus Caillebotte gives us an insight  into the life of the Parisian bourgeoisie:  After the death of their parents and the middle brother René, Gustave and Martial inherited a considerable fortune. Gustave could acquire the paintings he loved: Impressionists. He has been remembered in France primarily as the legator of some of the finest Impressionist paintings in the Musée d'Orsay. This latest exhibition brings his own talent to the fore. One of the star ...