In today’s foray into the history of art, I’m going to look at another great French 19thcentury masterpiece, Paris Street; Rainy Day, perhaps the most famous work by Gustave Caillebotte. The painting dominated the 1877 Impressionist exhibition in Paris and although it is certainly bold and innovative, its Academic attributes (such as a highly finished surface and rigorous perspective) rather disqualify it as a truly Impressionist work.
Also, like Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (see our blog on this picture by clicking here), there is also something inherently disquieting about the painting, which features a well-off couple strolling across a Parisian square. Yet, note that no-one is talking to anybody else: there is no interaction between the characters. Is Caillebotte, like Seurat, commenting on the alienation of an increasingly industrialised world?
Zuzanna Stańska from the online DailyArt magazine has been looking at the picture. She writes: “Caillebotte’s interest in photography is evident here. He reproduces the effect of a camera lens and the points at the center of the image seem to bulge. He also recreates the focusing effect of the camera in the way that it sharpens only certain subjects of an image. The foreground is in focus, while the background becomes more and more blurry.
“The painting’s highly crafted surface, rigorous perspective, and grand scale differed from what Impressionists were presenting at their exhibitions – it was much more pleasing for the Parisian audiences accustomed to the Academic aesthetic of the official Salon But at the same time, the asymmetrical composition and unusually cropped forms give us the feeling of something new, more modern.â€
Zuzanna tells us that Caillebotte was 29-years-old when he painted his masterpiece. He was independently wealthy and was also financing many of his friends’ work: “His father, Martial Caillebotte , had inherited the family’s military textile business. This sizable allowance, along with the inheritance Gustave received after the death of his father and his mother, allowed him to paint without the pressure to sell his work.â€
Is this why he is less well known than his Impressionist contemporaries? Perhaps, but I rather think it is to do with his name. Caillebotte exhibited with the Impressionists in the 1870s and his work has a robust vigour that perhaps many of them lacked. But ask any art lover to come up with Impressionist names and I suppose Monet, Manet and Renoir, would rapidly trip off the tongue and you could probably quickly add Dégas, Sisley, Pissarro and, of course, Berthe Morisot. But Caillebotte? His name is difficult to pronounce (Kayibott is the best I can do) and it’s even easy to forget how to spell it. Had he been called Dubois or Blanc I am sure he would be much better remembered.
He is remembered at the Watermill, however, because in our Ghirlandaio bedroom we have a reproduction of our favourite Caillebotte painting.
Les raboteurs de parquet, usually known in English as The Floor Scrapers (1875) was one of the first paintings to depict the Parisian working class. While it reintroduces the subject of the male nude in painting, these men are no heroes of antiquity such as Hercules or Odysseus, but despite their demeaning posture, their honest labour makes them modern heroes.
The painting was rejected by the Academy, which criticised its ‘vulgar subject matter’. Caillebotte showed it at the second exhibition of the Impressionists in 1876. Now we can enjoy it at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and, in reproduction at least, on a wall of the Ghirlandaio bedroom.
Come and see more great art, and produce your own masterpieces on a Watermill painting week. We would love to welcome you here and talk more about art over an evening aperitivo or two.
Yes, it is time to book your place on a Watermill 2023 creative course, especially as we have an Early Bird offer which means that if you book now there is a £75 (English pounds) discount on each of next year’s courses.
The courses are already filling fast: more than 200 people have already reserved a place, out of our maximum capacity of some 250 or so places. Book now, as they say, to avoid disappointment!
Below you will find dates and links for all our 2023 painting courses. Just click on the link of the ones you like to find out more detail. You will see that some of our creative weeks are already fully booked, but if you fancy that particular week or that particular tutor, don’t despair: there are often cancellations. Please get in touch via the Watermill Contact Form (by clicking here) and we will put you on a waiting list.
Harry Westera
15 – 22 April 2023 – still plenty of places
Watercolours
To learn more about Harry and his course at the mill, please visit his 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Ali Hargreaves
22 – 29 April 2023 – fully booked, waiting list open
Watercolours
To learn more about Ali and her course at the mill, please visit her 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Randy Hale
13 – 20 May 2023 – fully booked, waiting list open
Watercolours
To learn more about Randy and his course at the mill, please visit his 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Pamme Turner
20 – 27 May 2023 – one or two places available
Watercolour and gouache en plein air
To learn more about Pamme and her course at the mill, please visit her 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
James Willis
3 – 10 June 2023 – one or two places available
Watercolours
To learn more about James and his course at the mill, please visit his 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Herman Pekel
10 – 17 June 2023 – three or four places available
Watercolours
To learn more about Herman and his course at the mill, please visit his 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Maggie Renner Hellmann
24 June – 1 July 2023 – two or three places available
Oil and watercolour (acrylic, pastel)
To learn more about Maggie and her course at the mill, please visit her 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Fiona Graham-Mackay
1 – 8 July 2023 – still plenty of places
Painting en plein air (oil, acrylic, watercolour, pastel)
To learn more about Fiona and her course at the mill, please visit her 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Belinda Biggs
8 – 15 July 2023 – still plenty of places
Watercolours
To learn more about Belinda and her course at the mill, please visit her 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Cynthia Armstrong
19 – 26 August 2023 – still plenty of places
Watercolours, Travel painting in watercolours and gouache
To learn more about Cynthia and her course at the mill, please visit her 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Mary Padgett
26 August – 2 September 2023 – still plenty of places
Pastels (and other portable media) en plein air
To learn more about Mary and her course at the mill, please visit her 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Mike Willdridge
9 – 16 September 2023 – one or two places available
Watercolours and drawing (also gouache and acrylics)
To learn more about Mike and his course at the mill, please visit his 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Brienne M Brown
16 – 23 September 2023 – one or two places available
Watercolours
To learn more about Brienne and her course at the mill, please visit her 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Charles Sluga
23 – 30 September 2023 – three or four places available
Watercolours (acrylics and oils)
To learn more about Charles and his course at the mill, please visit his 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Tim Wilmot
30 September – 7 October 2023 – fully booked, waiting list open
Watercolours
To learn more about Tim and his course at the mill, please visit his 2023 Tutor Profile Page.
Grahame Booth
7 – 14 October 2023 – still plenty of places
Watercolours
To learn more about Grahame and his course at the mill, please visit his 2023 Tutor Profile Page.