Gustave Caillebotte

Gustave Caillebotte (August 19, 1848 – February 21, 1894), was a French painter, patron of the impressionist art movement, and engineer.

Caillebotte inherited a sizable fortune, including the estate in Yerres, after his father's death in 1874, which funded his patronage of the arts. Also, in 1874 he attended the École des Beaux-Arts where he met impressionist painters Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, and Pierre Auguste Renoir.

His painting style appears to belong to the school of realism, although he helped organize the first impressionist exhibition and enthusiastically collected impressionist works.

Caillebotte's painting themes were catholic. For example, he painted portraits and interior scenes, urban life, still lifes, and landscapes and seascapes. He often chose an overhead vantage point for his compositions and depicted elegantly dressed figures strolling with the expressionless look of sleep walkers (Boulevard Vu d'en Haut 1880). His metropolitan scenes led editor Anne Distel to title a book about him, Gustave Caillebotte: Urban Impressionist.

Gustave Caillebotte. Paris Street in Rainy Weather. 1877. Art Institute of Chicago.For many years, Caillebotte's reputation as a painter was superseded by his reputation as a supporter of the arts. However, 70 years after his death, art historians began reevaluating his artistic contributions.