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The Arts Intel Report

Gustave Caillebotte: Painting Men

Gustave Caillebotte, Boating Party, about 1877–78.

17985 Pacific Coast Hwy, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272, USA

Gustave Caillebotte was unique among French Impressionists not only for his role as both an artist and a patron but for his use of men as subjects. While the soft-focus and ephemerality in works by Claude Monet and Edgar Degas found expression in female forms, Caillebotte painted male friends and family members as well as soldiers, workmen, and athletes, highlighting his own experiences as a fighter in the Franco-Prussian War and a competitive yachtsman. Almost 100 paintings and drawings displayed at the J. Paul Getty Museum reflect that fascination, meanwhile expanding our traditional perception of Impressionism. —Lucy Horowitz

Photo: Grand Palais RMN (Musée d’Orsay) / Franck Raux