Gustave Caillebotte (1848 - 1894)

Gustave Caillebotte

Gustave Caillebotte was a French Impressionist painter, collector, patron of art and impresario.

Caillebotte was born into a noble and wealthy family, educated as an engineer and lawyer, but became interested in painting and studied at the Paris School of Fine Arts. In 1874 he met Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet and presented his work at Impressionist exhibitions. Over the next six years, Caillebotte became the chief organizer, promoter and financial sponsor of Impressionist exhibitions, and used his fortune to purchase works by other Impressionists, notably Monet, Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Alfred Sisley and Berthe Morisot.

Caillebotte bequeathed his collection of paintings to the state, some of which later formed the basis of the Impressionist collection at the Musée d'Orsay.

In his paintings, Caillebotte combined in a unique synthesis of academic, realistic and impressionist styles. He painted many family scenes, interiors and landscapes, as well as domestic scenes and streets of Paris.