“Caillebotte, Painter and Gardener” at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid is a celebration of the work of French artist and patron Gustave Caillebotte (1848 – 1894) – one of the most original yet least known of the French Impressionists.Curated by Marina Ferretti, director of Exhibitions and Research at the Musée des Impressionismes in Giverny, the exhibition reveals the Paris-born artist’s stylistic and thematic evolution, from his early depictions of the modern Paris of Baron Haussmann to his many garden scenes.The showcase of 64 works loaned from international museums and private collections are divided into four thematic sections: Haussmann’s Paris, World of Stone; Sojourns in Yerres; The Seine and the Exploration of Normandy; and The Garden at Petit Gennevilliers.Gustave Caillebotte was born in Paris in 1848 to a wealthy family which in part led to his later obscurity. The financial security that came from his father’s successful textile business meant that he didn’t have to sell his work, resulting in few entering public collections.For many years Caillebotte was best known for his role as a supporter and patron of the Impressionists whose exhibitions he helped finance and organize. It took more than 50 years after his death for the important achievements of this important artist to begin to be recognized.The originality and uniqueness of Caillebotte’s practice is exemplified by the modern subjects, skewed perspectives, unusual vantage points, and compositional flattening that characterize his work and distinguish it from that of his peers.Caillebotte’s discovered plein air painting while on summer holidays at his family’s Neo-classical style house in Yerres – the place where he discovered the power and intensity of nature and embarked on what the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza describes as “a profound dedication to painting gardens.”Works in the exhibition that epitomize Caillebotte’s talent for painting gardens and his interest in horticulture, which he shared with his friend Monet, include “The Kitchen Garden, Yerres” 1877, “Bed of Daisies” 1892-1893, and “Roses in the Garden at Petit Gennevilliers” 1886, to name a few.Other highlights of the exhibition that encapsulate the artist’s unique and original style include “The boulevard Seen From Above” 1880, “Balcony, Boulevard Haussmann” 1880, “Laundy Drying, Petit Gennevilliers” 1888, and “Fields on the Gennevilliers Plain, Study in Yellow and Pink” 1884.Click the slideshow to see images of the exhibition
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