Gustave Caillebotte
1848-1894
Gustave Caillebotte, born on August 19, 1848, in Paris, was known for his unconventional perspectives and compositions. The wealthy engineer had only studied for a brief period at the École des Beaux-Arts and preferred to learn from his artist friends. As a great patron of the Impressionists, he was particularly connected by his friendship with Monet and Renoir. Initially, his work focused on depicting working people. But the engineer was particularly fascinated by modern technology, and so he became a painter of the rapidly changing modern world.
Caillebotte's paintings, heavily influenced by photography, often feature backlighting. The daring details and the often-unbiased approach to a subject draw the viewer directly into the picture.
He helped his artist friends overcome their distress by buying their pictures so that when he died on February 21, 1894, he possessed 67 Impressionist paintings at his country estate in Petit Gennevilliers near Paris. He bequeathed these works to the Louvre.
