Exhibitions: Gustave Caillebotte: Impressionist Paintings from Paris to the Sea

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  January 2008: The first major showing of the work of the French Impressionist Gustave  Caillebotte (1848–1894) to be presented in New York in more than thirty years will be on view at the Brooklyn Museum March 27 through July 5, 2009. In 1977, the Museum was a venue for the landmark exhibition that introduced  the artist to the American public.
  
  Gustave Caillebotte: Impressionist Paintings from Paris to the Sea presents the artist’s well-known Parisian cityscapes alongside his painted scenes of outdoor life on the coast of Normandy and in the rural villages of Yerres and Petit Gennevilliers, where he and his family maintained estates. The exhibition will explore for the first time how these paintings express Caillebotte’s passion for subjects in which water plays a central role—as an enigmatic magical element reflecting its surroundings; as an essential atmospheric ingredient; and as a scene for sporting activities. Caillebotte approached his motifs with the trained eye and hand of an accomplished rower, yachtsman, and engineer.
  
  While The Floor Scrapers (1875), The Pont de l’Europe; (sketch; 1876), and House Painters (1877) reveal the artist’s fascination with Parisian subject matter—from the streets of the French capital to the labors of a growing urban working class—Skiffs on the Yerres (1877) demonstrates the artist’s interest in light, water, and reflection (principal ingredients of Impressionism), as well as the physical activity and camaraderie of the boaters. Regattas at Villers (1880) captures the atmosphere Caillebotte experienced as a painter and as an avid competitive sailor. Two paintings from the Brooklyn Museum’s collection, The Seine and the Railway Bridge at Argenteuil (1885–87) and Apple Tree in Bloom (circa 1885), disclose the artist’s interest in the juxtaposition of the built and natural worlds. The exhibition brings these works together with approximately thirty other paintings—primarily from private collections, where most of Caillebotte’s works are located, and from international museums—along with drawings, photographs, and models for the construction of the sailboats he owned and designed.
  
  Born into a family of wealth and privilege, Caillebotte was trained as a lawyer and engineer. Following his military service during the Franco-Prussian War, he studied painting at the studio of the academic artist Léon Bonnat. Despite this traditional artistic training, Caillebotte embraced more innovative idioms and exhibited alongside the Impressionists at their groundbreaking exhibitions of the 1870s and 1880s. A key member of the Impressionist circle, he was also a patron of the arts and supported his colleagues and friends financially and collected an impressive body of works by such artists as Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Alfred Sisley, and Camille Pissarro.
  
  Gustave Caillebotte: Impressionist Paintings from Paris to the Sea was organized by  Ordupgaard, Copenhagen, and the Kunsthalle Bremen. The Brooklyn Museum’s presentation is coordinated by Judith F. Dolkart, Associate Curator of European Art. A full-color catalogue accompanies the exhibition.
  
  A variety of public programs will be presented in conjunction with the exhibition and will be featured on the Museum’s Web site at www.brooklynmuseum.org.
  
  Tour:
  
  Ordupgaard, Copenhagen
  June 29–October 5, 2008
  
  Kunsthalle Bremen
  October 22, 2008–February 22, 2009
  
  Brooklyn Museum
  March 27–July 5, 2009

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Press Coverage of this Exhibition

• THE WEEK AHEAD | MARCH 22 - MARCH 28 | ArtMarch 22, 2009 By NICOLAI OUROUSSOFF"Art Nicolai Ouroussoff ''GUSTAVE CAILLEBOTTE: IMPRESSIONIST PAINTINGS FROM PARIS TO THE SEA,'' at the Brooklyn Museum, is a soothing show for dreary times. Caillebotte is best known as the ''urban impressionist'' -- a recorder of gritty Paris street scenes at a time when the city was still recovering from Haussmann's urban renewal projects. The..."
• ART REVIEW; The Reluctant ImpressionistMarch 27, 2009 By HOLLAND COTTER"''Poodles in Impressionism''? Now there's an exhibition theme, and one that the stretched-thin Impressionism industry may eventually have to resort to. When that time comes, all eyes will turn to Gustave Caillebotte, who painted more than a few pets of exceptional charm. You can see at least one of them, plopped down by the Seine, in the show..."
• The ListingsApril 3, 2009 "ART Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.comart. Museums BARD GRADUATE CENTER: 'ENGLISH EMBROIDERY FROM THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, 1580-1700,' through April 12. At once revelatory and great fun, this exhibition examines one of the world's most beloved and ancient art..."
• The ListingsApril 17, 2009 By THE NEW YORK TIMES"ART Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.comart. Museums BROOKLYN MUSEUM: 'GUSTAVE CAILLEBOTTE: IMPRESSIONIST PAINTINGS FROM PARIS TO THE SEA,' through July 5. Thirty-some years ago, the museum had a big success with a Caillebotte retrospective that more or less introduced American..."
• The ListingsApril 24, 2009 By THE NEW YORK TIMES"ART Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.comart. Museums BROOKLYN MUSEUM: 'GUSTAVE CAILLEBOTTE: IMPRESSIONIST PAINTINGS FROM PARIS TO THE SEA,' through July 5. Thirty-some years ago, the museum had a big success with a Caillebotte retrospective that more or less introduced American..."