Some art is everywhere. In a society where Monet’s “Water Lilies” can be found in dorm rooms and Art Humanities extols the virtues of impressionism, some may ask if it’s really necessary to see another impressionist exhibit.
However, the current exhibit on display at the Brooklyn Museum, Gustave Caillebotte: Impressionist Paintings from Paris to the Sea, offers a belated introduction to an artist who both influenced and was influenced by the movement.
Gustave Caillebotte—born in 1848 to a wealthy Parisian family—was a lawyer, engineer, sportsman, soldier, and patron of the arts. He was best known for his supportive role within the circle of French impressionists. He paid the rent for Monet’s studio, financed shows, and assembled such a large collection of art that at his death it was left to the state and became the foundation for the public collection.
Yet Caillebotte was at heart an artist. His works may have been passed over in his day, but today they offer a refreshing view of the city streets and seascapes that were so often painted by his contemporaries.
The Brooklyn Museum displays his work thematically, focusing on his interests rather than his maturity as a painter. Although the immense white space that houses the show seems to diminish the effect of his work, the exhibit itself highlights Caillebotte’s passion for sailing through his numerous paintings of boats on the Seine, as well as models of his designs for racing yachts and photographs of their construction.
Perhaps his greatest interest was the effect of light on reflective surfaces, such as water and glass, and his works try to capture those effects on canvas. In “Bather Preparing to Dive,” Caillebotte grapples with this problem as he contrasts the bluish body of a swimmer, shaded by trees, with a bright patch of yellow light, painted in large, rough brushstrokes.
“Bather Preparing to Dive” introduces another fascination: the body. While the museum displays Caillebotte’s most celebrated masterpiece, “Floor Scrapers,” only in reproduction, another painting, also titled “Floor Scrapers,” is on display and does justice to his representations of the human body at work. Considered vulgar when it was originally displayed, his depiction of the taut figures established Caillebotte as an “urban impressionist”—an artist who saw the evolving dynamics of the city before him and painted them with a refined eye.
Scenes of urban affluence are displayed as well. “The Luncheon,” a portrait of his family at lunch in a shadowed, yet clearly opulent dining room, and “Château Michelet on the Bank of the River Seine” offer views of the lives of the Parisian elite.
Yet Caillebotte is able to seamlessly blend the elite with nature. The attention to the refined architecture of the Château Michelet is transformed in its reflection on the Seine. The strict geometry of the building becomes distorted splashes of color that mix with the water.
But Caillebotte seems most comfortable in his dual identity as both artist and patron. In the final work of the show, “Self-Portrait at the Easel,” Caillebotte, perhaps pretentiously, paints himself painting in front of Renoir’s “Ball at the Moulin de la Galette”—a work from his personal collection.
The Brooklyn Museum show does honor to this versatile, multifaceted man. Caillebotte’s work can be characterized by either a fine attention to detail or a loose interpretation of light and form. But as a whole it is thoroughly unique. There are none of Renoir’s voluptuous nudes or Monet’s picturesque gardens. Everything is seen through the eyes of a man who was at once scientific and artistic.
Gustave Caillebotte: Impressionist Paintings from Paris to the Sea runs through July 5, 2009 at the Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway by Washington Avenue. Tickets are $9 for students.
Comments
We're looking for comments that are interesting and substantial. If your comments are excessively self-promotional or obnoxious you will be banned from commenting. Consult the comment FAQ and legal terms.