Synopses & Reviews
The paintings of Gustave Caillebotte depict striking Parisian street scenes, from
Boulevard Haussmann and
The Bridge of Europe looking out onto the Gare Saint-Lazare to Caillebotteandrsquo;s best-known work,
Paris Street, Rainy Day, which hangs in Chicagoandrsquo;s Art Institute today. Caillebotte has long been acknowledged as an important painterandmdash;and munificent patronandmdash;of the French impressionist movement. Yet his paintings, in their near-photographic precision, stand apart from the works of Renoir and Monet in important ways.
Gustave Caillebotte: An Impressionist and Photography sets out to explore the development of the artistandrsquo;s distinctive style. Though there is no evidence that Caillebotte practiced photography, he took an early interest in the art form, influenced perhaps by his brother, the photographer Martial Caillebotte. As a result, Gustave Caillebotteandrsquo;s paintings show an emphasis on realism and often take on the composition and perspective of a photograph as well, with figures toward the center in sharp focus, while those in the foreground or background remain indistinct. Karin Sagner and Max Hollein have carefully chosen from among Caillebotteandrsquo;s works a selection of paintings that exemplify this characteristic of the artistandrsquo;s style. They are presented here alongside critical essays and works by photographers who were Caillebotteandrsquo;s contemporaries and shared an affinity for documenting the nineteenth-century French capital, including Andrandeacute; Kertandeacute;sz, Wols and Landaacute;szlandoacute; Moholy-Nagy, andEacute;douard Baldus, Charles Marville, and Eugandegrave;ne Atget.
While there have been many studies of Caillebotteandrsquo;s work, this is the first book to publish his paintings side-by-side with a selection of early photographs taken between 1850 and 1930. Together, they establish Caillebotte as the pioneer of a radically modern photographic form that added a new dimension to French impressionism and exerted an important influence on later photography.
Review
andldquo;This extensively illustrated catalog documents an ambitious exhibit about the work of French painter Gustave Caillebotte, presenting the reader with judicious juxtapositions of Caillebotteandrsquo;s works with now-iconic photographic images. Text and images, working together, persuade the reader that Caillebotteandrsquo;s work did anticipate, by several years, the unusual perspectives of now-renowned photographers. [It] will serve the research requirements of curators and advanced scholars as well as engage undergraduates with interest in nineteenth-century art and photography.andrdquo;
Review
andquot;Recommended. . . . Containing as many photographs as paintings, this catalogue enables readers to see similarities and differences in approaches and to determine independently what connections and interactions might exist.andquot;
Synopsis
Caillebotte's vivid representations of Parisian life bridged the gap between Realism and Impressionism during the late 1870s and early 1880s. His Paris Street: Rainy Day and Floorscrapers -- each the subject of a fascinating, extensively illustrated analysis in this book -- have become icons of the Impressionists' devotion to scenes of modern urban life.
Prepared by an international team of scholars to accompany the major 1994-95 retrospective organized by the Reunion des Musees Nationaux/Musee d'Orsay, Paris, and The Art Institute of Chicago, Gustave Caillebotte: Urban Impressionist reproduces 89 of his paintings and 28 of his drawings and studies, many of them from little-known private collections. Thoughtful essays examine both his work and his crucial role as an early patron and promoter of Impressionism. A chronology, list of exhibitions, and selected bibliography provide additional invaluable information.
About the Author
Karin Sagner is a Munich-based researcher whose work focuses on nineteenth-century art. She is the author of
Claude Monet, 1840andndash;1926: A Feast for the Eyes.
Max Hollein is director of the Schirn Kunsthalle, Standauml;del Museum, and Standauml;dtische Galerie Liebieghaus, all in Frankfurt.
Table of Contents
Foreword
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Christian Strenger
Foreword and Acknowledgements to the Lenders
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Max Hollein
Gustave Caillebotteand#8212;an Impressionist and Photography
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Karin Sagner
Panoramas, Perspectivesand#8212;a New Perception of Space
and#160;and#160;and#160; Panorama Photographyand#8212;Paris in All its Details
and#160;and#160;and#160; Stereoscopyand#8212;the Breakthrough into 3-D
and#160;and#160;and#160; The Fascination of Space
New Physiognomiesand#8212;the Cityand#8217;s Street Furniture
and#160;and#160;and#160; The Patient Photographer of Parisian Street Furniture
and#160;and#160;and#160; From Above to Below
and#160;and#160;and#160; The View from Above
Poetry of Techniqueand#8212;Aesthetics of Work
and#160;and#160;and#160; The Appeal of Technical Structures
and#160;and#160;and#160; The Beauty of the UnspectacularReading Gustave Caillebotteand#8217;s Pont de land#8217;Europe (1876)
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Claude Ghez
Active Opticsand#8212;Fland#226;neurs, Dandies, and Other Dramatis Personae
and#160;and#160;and#160; Depicting the Momentary through Movement
and#160;and#160;and#160; The Freezing of Movement
and#160;and#160;and#160; Passing the Time with a Cameraand#8216;Everything as though under a magic spelland#8217;and#8212;The Depiction of Street Life in Nineteenth-century Photographsand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Ulrich Pohlmann
Citizens Seen in Close View
and#160;and#160;and#160; Positions far from Formal Posing
Staging of Objects
and#160;and#160;and#160; Putting Things on Displayand#8212;Commodities and Private Idealisation
Landscape and Abstraction
and#160;and#160;and#160; The Exploration of Painting
and#160;and#160;and#160; Austere Arrangements
Unconventional Views through Movement
and#160;and#160;and#160; Voyeurs and Pedestrians, or: Walking in the City and in the Country
and#160;and#160;and#160; Photographyand#8212;the Only Reliable Depiction of Reality
and#160;and#160;and#160; In Praise of Idleness
and#160;and#160;and#160; Creating an Awareness of Things by a New Way of Seeing
and#160;and#160;and#160; and#8216;The magical en passantand#8217;and#8212;The Alienation of the Everyday
Gustave Caillebotteand#8212;Biography
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Gilles Chardeau
List of Exhibited Works with Short Biographies
Image Credits
The Authors
Imprint