Gustave Caillebotte
Although the paintings of Gustave Caillebotte are at one remove from the Impressionist style, he might be the person most responsible for ensuring the Impressionist legacy. Born in 1848 to a family whose wealth derived from textiles and Parisian real estate, Caillebotte studied classics at the Lycée Louis Le Grand. He also received a law degree, learned about naval architecture developing innovations in boats' aerodynamics and ballast, and studied painting at the famed École des Beaux-Arts. His paintings drew from contemporary life, including street and boating scenes. Amongst his work are two definite masterpieces, Rue de Paris, temps de pluie; Intersection de la Rue de Turin et de la Rue de Moscou [Paris Street; Rainy Day, 1877], now in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Raboteurs de parquet [The Floor Scrapers, 1875] on view at the Musée d'Orsay. After Caillebotte inherited his family's wealth in 1873, he became a significant financial resource and promoter for his good friends, Degas, Monet and Renoir. In 1874, he helped to organize their first group show. Continuing to buy their paintings, Caillebotte was also a friend and purchased works of Manet and Cézanne. At his death, in 1894, he left his vast Impressionist collection to the state of France, which was accepted only after a struggle for these paintings, called at the time "unhealthy art", to receive their due. Finally in 1897, the first Impressionist exhibition, based on Caillebotte's collection, was held in a French national museum.
