Gustave Caillebotte: Paintings

By Charity Jones

Gustave Caillebotte was a French Impressionist, though he painted in a more realistic style than many other Impressionists. In common with his precursors Millet and Courbet Caillebotte tried to paint reality as it existed and as he saw it. Perhaps because of his close relationship with so many of his peers, his style and technique varies considerably among his works, as if "borrowing" and experimenting, but not really sticking to any one style. His work may have been strongly influenced by Japanese prints and the new technology of photography, though evidence of his actual use of photography is lacking. Cropping and "zooming-in", techniques which are also commonly found in Caillebotte's oeuvre, may also be the result of his interest in photography, but may just as likely derive from his intense interest in perspective effects. A large number of his paintings also make use of a very high vantage point.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charity Jones
• Release date: Jan 22, 2015
• ISBN: 9786050350784

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Gustave Caillebotte: Paintings

By Charity Jones

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Copyright © 2015 by Charity Jones

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Gustave Caillebotte: Paintings

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Foreword

Gustave Caillebotte (1848 – 1894) was a French painter, member and patron of the group of artists known as Impressionists, though he painted in a much more realistic manner than many other artists in the group. Caillebotte was noted for his early interest in photography as an art form.

Caillebotte's style belongs to the School of Realism but was strongly influenced by his Impressionist associates. In common with his precursors Jean-François Millet and Gustave Courbet as well his contemporary Degas Caillebotte aimed to paint reality as it existed and as he saw it, hoping to reduce painting's inherent theatricality. Perhaps because of his close relationship with so many of his peers, his style and technique varies considerably among his works, as if borrowing and experimenting, but not really sticking to any one style. At times, he seems very much in the Degas camp of rich-colored realism (especially his interior scenes) and at other times, he shares the Impressionists' commitment to optical truth and employs an impressionistic pastel softness and loose brush strokes most similar to Renoir and Pissarro, though with a less vibrant palette.

The tilted ground common to these paintings is very characteristic of Caillebotte's work, which may have been strongly influenced by Japanese prints and the new technology of photography, though evidence of his actual use of photography is lacking. Cropping and zooming-in, techniques which are also commonly found in Caillebotte's oeuvre, may also be the result of his interest in photography, but may just as likely derive from his intense interest in perspective effects. A large number of Caillebotte's works also employ a very high vantage point.

Caillebotte painted many domestic and familial scenes, interiors, and portraits. Many of his paintings depict members of his family includes Caillebotte's mother along with his aunt, cousin, and a family friend. There are scenes of dining, card playing, piano playing, reading and sewing all executed in an intimate, unobtrusive manner which observes the