Gustave Caillebotte | Painter - Member and patron of the Impressionists

Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894) was a French painter who was a member and patron of the Impressionists, although he painted in a more realistic manner than many others in the group.

Caillebotte's sizable allowance, along with the inheritance he received after the death of his father in 1874 and his mother in 1878, allowed him to paint without the pressure to sell his work.

It also allowed him to help fund Impressionist exhibitions and support his fellow artists and friends (Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, and Camille Pissarro among others) by purchasing their works and, at least in the case of Monet, paying the rent for their studios.

Caillebotte bought his first Monet in 1875 and was especially helpful to that artist's career and financial survival.

He was precise in his sponsorship; notably absent are works by Georges Seurat and Paul Gauguin, or any of the Symbolists.

In 1890, he played a major role in assisting Claude Monet in organizing a public subscription and in persuading the French state to purchase Édouard Manet's 1863 Olympia.

Convinced after the death in 1876 of his younger brother René that his own life would be short, Caillebotte wrote his will while still in his twenties.

In the will, Caillebotte bequeathed a large collection to the French government. This collection of sixty-eight paintings, included works by Camille Pissarro (nineteen), Claude Monet (fourteen), Pierre-Auguste Renoir (ten), Alfred Sisley (nine), Edgar Degas (seven), Paul Cézanne (five), and Édouard Manet (four).

At the time of Caillebotte's death, the Impressionists were still largely condemned by the art establishment in France, which remained dominated by Academic art and specifically, the Académie des Beaux-Arts.

Because of this, Caillebotte realised that the cultural treasures in his collection would likely disappear into "attics" and "provincial museums".

He therefore stipulated that they must be displayed in the Luxembourg Palace (devoted to the work of living artists), and then in the Louvre.

The French government would not agree to these terms.

In February 1896, they finally negotiated terms with Renoir, who was the executor of the will, under which they took thirty-eight of the paintings to the Luxembourg Palace.

The installation constituted the first presentation of the Impressionists in a public venue in France.

The remaining twenty-nine paintings (one by Degas was taken by Renoir in payment for his services as executor) were offered to the French government twice again, in 1904 and 1908, and were both times refused.

When the government finally attempted to claim them in 1928, the bequest was repudiated by the widow of Caillebotte's brother Martial Caillebotte.

One of the remaining works, Bathers at Rest, was purchased by Albert C. Barnes and is now held by the Barnes Foundation.

Forty of Caillebotte's own works are held by the Musée d'Orsay.

His Man on a Balcony, Boulevard Haussmann (Homme au balcon, boulevard Haussmann) (1880), sold for more than US$14.3 million in 2000. | Source: © Wikipedia

Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894) è stato un pittore Francese, membro e mecenate degli impressionisti, sebbene dipingesse in modo più realistico rispetto a molti altri del gruppo.

La cospicua rendita di Caillebotte, insieme all'eredità ricevuta dopo la morte del padre nel 1874 e della madre nel 1878, gli permise di dipingere senza la pressione di dover vendere le sue opere.

Gli permise inoltre di contribuire a finanziare le mostre impressioniste e di sostenere i suoi colleghi artisti ed amici - Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir e Camille Pissarro, tra gli altri - acquistando le loro opere ed, almeno nel caso di Monet, pagando l'affitto dei loro studi.

Caillebotte acquistò il suo primo Monet nel 1875 e fu particolarmente utile alla carriera ed alla sopravvivenza finanziaria dell'artista.

Fu preciso nel suo mecenatismo; sono notevolmente assenti opere di Georges Seurat e Paul Gauguin, o di qualsiasi altro simbolista.

Nel 1890, svolse un ruolo fondamentale nell'aiutare Claude Monet ad organizzare una sottoscrizione pubblica e nel convincere lo Stato francese ad acquistare l'Olympia di Édouard Manet del 1863.