Although Caillebotte is widely recognized as the painter of a small number of iconic works — particularly The Pont de l'Europe and Paris Street, Rainy Day — and sometimes given more credit as a collector and supporter of the arts, his breadth or depth as a critical impressionist artist is not generally known by the American public.
Caillebotte was a unique player in the impressionist movement and his work was out of public view for almost a century, remaining in private collections. Born into a wealthy Parisian upper middle-class family, Caillebotte obtained a law degree and was a veteran of the Franco-Prussian War. He joined Léon Bonnat's studio and passed the entrance exam for the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1873, but his participation was minimal.
Self-portrait, circa 1892, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay
Caillebotte died young and his bequest left a collection of 69 impressionist masterpieces to the French government. The will was contested by his heirs, a compromise was reached, and 38 impressionist masterpieces were accessioned by the government and currently reside at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. The rest of his paintings — more than 400 works — remain in the collection of his family.
He was attracted by the innovative spirit of the artists who were to become known as the impressionists. Originally invited by Edgar Degas to participate in the first impressionist exhibition in 1874, Caillebotte did not join the group until 1876, at Auguste Renoir's invitation. Caillebotte was one of the regular participants in the group's exhibitions (1877, 1879, 1880, and 1882), and he organized the 1877 presentation. Having inherited a large fortune from his parents, Caillebotte had no need to sell his own paintings and could focus on collecting the work of his artist-friends instead.
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