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 pieces in the show is "Rainy Day in Paris". The very large work has been brought over from Chicago:

Rue de Paris, temps de pluie (Rainy day in Paris) 1877 Art Institute of Chicago

No rain is visible in the atmosphere, although the cobbles are wet. The man is walking in confident manner with his coat casually open. Gustave Caillebotte's characteristic way of portraying a plunging perspective evokes the modern Paris created by baron Haussmann for Emperor Napoléon III. This major work was exhibited by Caillebotte at the 3rd Impressionist exhibition, generally considered as the best of the eight exhibitions. Some of the artist's precise preparatory sketches are on display:

Study for Rue de Paris, temps de pluie  Pencil sketch  ca 1877 Private Collection

Trained by the traditionalist portrait painter Léon Bonnat, Caillebotte was used to making preliminary sketches. However the School of Fine Arts teaching did not appeal to him, so he didn't attend classes for long, preferring the company of Renoir, Monet or Degas. He was decidedly a realist and a modernist.

One of Caillebotte's iconic works - the "Floor planers" is normally on view at the Orsay. It was refused at the official Salon in 1875 for portraying too vulgar a subject. Caillebotte was very disappointed that his "chef d'oeuvre" was refused, but he showed it at the second Impressionist exhibition in 1876 with some success:

Raboteurs de parquet (Floor planers) 1875

Perhaps this is the same floor planer in three positions- there is only one glass of wine! Léon Bonnat, Caillebotte's teacher, an admirer of Spanish painters, is thought to have inspired the men's realistically painted physiques by a work to be found in a Paris church: 

Léon Bonnat: St Vincent de Paul taking the place of a galley slave  1865 
 in church of St Nicolas des Champs, Paris (not in the exhibition)

The Orsay exhibition is arranged in sections by subject matter. Caillebotte, who designed yachts and competed in regattas, loved to paint boating scenes. He introduces us to the pleasures of the river:

Pėrissoires (Canoes) 1877 Milwaukee Art Museum

Baigneurs (Bathers) 1878 Private Collection

Pêche à la ligne (Fishing) 1878 Private Collection

Such bucolic pastimes were enjoyed by Caillebotte, a man of private means. The three panels above were probably intended to decorate a room in the family's country house at Yerres. They have been brought together specially for this exhibition. 

Caillebotte was also a keen gardener - where he found common ground with Claude Monet. After the death of their mother, the two brothers sold the family property in Yerres and bought land North of Paris on the left bank of the Seine at le Petit Gennevilliers near the yachting club. Sadly the house and studio were destroyed by the bombing of 1944. Caillebotte's garden there has disappeared, unlike Monet's at Giverny, but we can get an idea of it from his paintings:

Les Roses, Jardin du Petit Gennevilliers (The Roses, Petit Gennevilliers garden) ca 1886  Private Collection

Caillebotte's garden appears very regularly laid out but with profusions of blooms. The lady in the picture is his companion Charlotte Berthier with her little dog. This is the woman he described in a census as his 'friend' (he never married) and to whom he left a small house and income when he died in 1894, aged only 45.  Here is a view of his vegetable garden:

Le Potager (The vegetable garden) Le Petit Gennevilliers  ca 1882  Private Collection

The painting displays the complementary colours of pinks and soft greens, with purple shadows, in true Impressionist style. Many of Caillebotte's works feature his beloved water scenes. The following, unfinished, work was based on a photograph of himself with friend Lamy (on the left):

Bord de la Seine au Petit Gennevilliers, en hiver ( Banks of the Seine at Petit Gennevilliers, in winter) ca 1893  Private Collection

Emile Lamy was a kind of substitute brother for Caillebotte after Martial had moved out to get married. Lamy was like Caillebotte a great yachtsman. Caillebotte lived rather a bachelor life, meeting with his various friends whom he portrayed occasionally in his paintings. The model for the following café scene was a notary friend. The work is usually to be found in the art gallery in Rouen, Normandy. It is an intricate view from the cafe's inside reflecting the outside by its mirrors, with a couple of 'habitués'  in the background:

Dans un café (In a café) 1880  Beaux-Arts de Rouen

Cafe life, Parisian boulevards and views from the windows were typical subjects for Caillebotte. His attention to line and composition is characteristic - similar to Degas. The painting below, which was shown at the 2nd Impressionist Exhibition in 1876, portrays the middle brother René:

Jeune homme à sa fenêtre (Young man at his window) 1875 Los Angeles,
J. Paul Getty Museum

When René died that same year aged only 26, Gustave Caillebotte was so devastated that he immediately wrote a will leaving his art collection to the state. He himself was only 28.

Caillebotte's figures are often solitary or disconnected, as the couple crossing the recently built Europe bridge:

Le Pont de l'Europe (The Europe Bridge) 1876

Influenced by Monet, Caillebotte is at his best perhaps when capturing the light and colours of the throng on the tree-lined boulevards in a looser Impressionist style:

Boulevard des Italiens ca 1880 Private Collection

Caillebotte painted only one female nude, as far as we know, and it was never shown to the public during his lifetime. The model, possibly his companion Charlotte, is treated in realist style- no concessions to charm or sensuality:

 In the painting below, the clothed figure is definitely Charlotte reading a newspaper while the man behind reads a novel- a reversal of roles for the period! Caillebotte's figures seem to 'shrink' into the ample sofas! 

In 1894, Caillebotte's will left over 60 works by Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Degas etc. to the Louvre. Unfortunately the authorities couldn't fit them all into the Luxembourg gallery and a compromise was found two years later, whereby only 40 works were accepted- these are now the pride and joy of the Musée d'Orsay, although very controversial at the time. A group of prominent Arts School teachers wrote a letter of complaint that such works were going to be shown in a public collection. Caillebotte had predicted in his will that the paintings would take years to be approved. A modest man, Gustave did not include any of his own paintings. It was thanks to Renoir and Martial Caillebotte that 2 of his works found a home in the state collection-  the "Planers" and the "Roofs of Paris under snow".

The Musée d'Orsay now owns a good selection of Caillebotte's paintings. The recent acquisition of a boating scene was the starting point for this exhibition:

Partie de Bateau (Boat ride) ca 1877-8

The man is unidentified, state the exhibition notes. However he looks  rather like Caillebotte himself- could it be taken from a photo by his brother Martial? See what you think:

Autoportrait au chapeau d'été (Self portrait wearing summer hat) ca 1873 Private Collection

The exhibition is a rare chance to see Caillebotte's works- most of which are still in private hands.

Caillebotte Exhibiton: Peindre les hommes (Painting Men) at Musée d'Orsay, Esplanade Valéry Giscard    d'Estaing, Paris 75007, from 8th October 2024 until 19th January, 2025

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