Gustave Caillebotte: The Painter's Eye

Went to the National Gallery of Art today to see the new exhibition, Gustave Caillebotte: The Painter's Eye.  I have long been a qualified fan of Caillebotte.  When he's on, he's 100% on, and then when he not...ugh.

The best aspect of this exhibit for me was the education of exactly who Caillebotte was and how he used his talent to express his understanding of the world around us all.  And there was the prominence of paintings from Private collections--over half of them are not on public display.  No wonder I didn't understand this artist better.

The Floor Scrapers, 1875 ~ Musee d'Orsey: Paris, France

The first grand work was this one.  It holds a degree of beauty that is transcendent and celebratory of the male form like Michelangelo's David in Florence, Italy.  He used only one model over and over again--perhaps the reason there's only glass of wine in the composition?

private collection

This is a lunch in his home not long after the death of his father. The figures are his mother and servant and his younger brother Rene. Within 2 years Rene would be dead and shortly there after his mother, too. The light through the glassware is amazing.

private collection

It stood out to me today, how often he chooses to paint people from behind. He loves to create a sense of intimacy by structuring his compositions from a perspective that is participatory. It's not just that you are seeing a thing. It's that you are standing or sitting right there in that moment. Can you feel the humidity? The heat of the harsh sun, the slight respite in the shadow of the awning? And don't you just want to step up a little closer to see what the gentleman is looking at?

The Pont de l'Europe, 1876 ~ Association des Amis du Petit Palais: Geneva, Switzerland

What the modern eye fails to comprehend in viewing Caillebotte's paintings is their radical depiction of modernity.  His paintings of this bridge are so cutting edge and demanding of a response by his contemporaries.  I just love the addition of the dog.

Private Collection

A radical perspective for a painting in his time and really a beautiful composition.

Man at His Bath, 1884, Museum of Fine Arts: Boston, USA

This painting was hung on a feature wall dividing the largest of the 6 galleries. When you turn to enter it this painting slaps you in the face! While sitting in the previous gallery listening to audio tour, I noticed a family of tourists enter with others. The parents where mundanely engaged and the children were bored--listless. As the departed there was a sudden excited outburst of laughter. I turned to look into the next gallery and saw this painting there for the first time and both the kids were beside themselves with childlike reaction to it. Now, wouldn't that just have made Caillebotte's day?

As he approached his 40's, Caillebotte left Paris for a home in the country.  He bought a home in Petit-Gennevilliers.  He continued to paint even as he pursued his love of rowing and sailing and cultivated his love of gardening.  These paintings come from that period.

L'Yerres, Pluie, 1875, Indiana University Museum of Art: Bloomington, USA

Isn't this wonderfully unusual as a composition?

A Boating Party, 1878, private collection

One of my long standing disappointments with Caillebotte's work is his lack of accuracy in depicting the human form. He really struggles with this. And he fails at times in a catastrophic way that diminishes the composition in its entirety. Worst of all is his awkward portrayal of perspective. And that is why this painting, made toward the end of his life is so astounding a triumph to me. There was no hint of who the man was in the audio annotation. But I think it was Caillebotte himself. Look at the last image I include. The man on the right in that boat is thought to be himself. He is wearing the same shirt. It's certainly a reasonable conjecture.

Two later paintings in private collections