PERSPECTIVE DRAWING 12

Gustave Caillebotte (1848 -1894)

Biography

Gustave Caillebotte was the artist who created the painting we used as our example on the previous page. Born into a wealthy Parisian family, he trained as a naval architect and engineer, but also studied painting at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. When his father died, his inheritance allowed him to act as a patron and promote the work of the Impressionists. He not only bought and collected their works, but also paid for their framing and gallery space. On his death, he donated his outstanding collection of Impressionist paintings to the French state. It now hangs in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

Caillebotte was a considerable artist in his own right. Although he exhibited in three of the great Impressionist exhibitions (1879, 1880, 1882) and is normally associated with the Impressionist movement, his style takes a departure from the norm. His subjects are images of contemporary Parisian society, but what makes them different and appealing to the modern eye is their distinctive viewpoints and formally organised compositions. In training as a naval architect, a sense of economy in the construction of space would become instinctive. He applies this economy of design to the architecture of his paintings. He creates a strange fusion of Impressionism with the academic which gives his work its unique character.

In the first half of the 20th century Caillebotte was only considered to be a minor artist. However, time has changed our appreciation of his talent and a reappraisal of his work over the last few decades has enhanced his reputation. Consequently, several of his works now stand equal in status with the best of Impressionist painting.