November 17, 2024

Post 7: One particular Impressionist

 The Curious Case of Gustave Caillebotte


Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894) with his dog, 1892


      The trouble the Impressionist movement imposed on critics at the time, was understanding the unifying idea among its painters. Caillebotte's expression only added to this confusion. Born into a rich Parisian family and losing his parents in his late twenties, Caillebotte found himself in a unique position of not only being able to use his fortune as he pleased but also to paint what he pleased. Here, I will focus on his less celebrated (except The Parquet Workers) but more daring paintings,  to show Caillebotte's uncompromising fight for freedom of artistic expression.

Trained conventionally, he depicts his scenes and subjects accordingly, but his choice of subjects breaks every existing mold. To give us all time to acclimate, I am starting with his stunning "Vue de Toits", noting that besides some photos, this would be the first time urban roofs are chosen as a subject. On his 'impressionistic side', like Monet, he uses roofs as an excuse to paint the atmosphere above them, the light and the air, the smoke and the snow. His subject is what surrounds the roofs:


Vue de Toits (Effet de Neige), 1878
Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894)
64.5 x 81 cm, oil on canvas
Roofscape Caillebotte Musee d'Orsay


 He will also be the first to paint urban workers transforming the city in "Haussmann's Paris". Furthermore, he was the first to paint them with their shirts off! Suddenly, we are gazing at these men, their muscles, skin, and sweat!  Again, Caillebotte surprises us with the subject but then re-joins the rest of the Impressionists by exploring the effect of light coming from the window. This painting was refused by the official Salon but got him an invitation to join Impressionist exhibitions.


 


Raboteurs de Parquet, 1875
Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894)
102 x 147 cm, oil on canvas
Raboteurs Caillebotte Musee d'Orsay



He didn't need to sell art for money like his Impressionist peers. He did not need to accommodate the taste of collectors and buyers, therefore he felt free to explore his darker or deeper reflections. And here is another sparkling moment I came up with while reading and researching for this blog: I present to you still life by Caillebotte from 1882, the year he left Paris bitterly disappointed by, mainly, Monet and Renoir giving up on group exhibitions after the 7th Impressionist exhibition that year and pursuing their solo ones:


Calf's Head and Ox Tongue, 1882
Gustav Caillebotte (1848-1894)
73 x 54 cm, oil on canvas
Still Life Caillebotte Art Institute Chicago


While other Impressionists were inspired by female beauty in harmony with nature, he was interested in studying the new modern man. His most famous paintings present men at work, at leisure, in sport, at home, or in public spaces.  And here it is, another of his ground-breaking masterpieces, almost life-sized - Man at his Bath. Paris was not interested, so he sent it to Brussels, to be exhibited in 1889 in the exhibition of "The Twenty". " Les Vingt" was an independent group of Belgium painters protesting against strict Belgian academic rules and starting their exhibitions in 1884, ten years after the French Impressionists. It was hung on the furthest dark wall of the exhibition hall. 



Man at his Bath, 1884
Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894)
144.8 x 114.3 cm, oil on canvas
Man at his Bath Museum of Fine Arts Boston



By now, your guess is as good as the guess of the current Musée d'Orsay's exhibition (October 2024-January 2025) on Caillebotte - that he was a homosexual and he let his paintings tell us that. XIX century in its second half acknowledges for the first time homosexuality as a personal characteristic and not only a punishable act of sodomy as until then.

From the moment Caillebotte joined the Impressionists in 1875, he was the movement's beating heart. He organized all the exhibitions, bought many paintings, rented apartments and studios (for Monet), and pleaded with the leading Impressionists (Monet, Renoir, Degas) not to leave the group. Although he died young, his legacy as the painter, patron, collector, and donor made an enormous impact on the French ability to preserve and admire the heritage of Impressionism. His private collection of Impressionist paintings became the core of the Musée d'Orsay's collection. Recommendation to visit: Caillebotte Property in Yerres, 20 km south of Paris.

To make a connection from Caillebotte to our days' artists with conventional style but shocking subject matters - one of the best in the XX century - Lucian Freud. Here is his self-portrait:


Painter Working, Reflection 1993
Lucian Freud (1922-2011)
101.2 x 81.7 cm, oil on canvas
Lucian Freud Archive




 The main sources for this post were catalogues for the Musée d'Orsay exhibition on Caillebotte Paul Perrin and the special issue of Beaux Arts magazine dedicated to this exhibition.

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