Development Caillebotte began painting during his war service. After the war, Caillebotte began visiting the studio of the painter
Léon Bonnat, where he started to study painting seriously. He then developed an accomplished style in a relatively short time and had his first studio in his parents' home. In 1873, Caillebotte entered the , but apparently did not spend much time there. In some of his early works he used mother and brothers as models. His artist's studio was built in the family home at his father's direction. Gustave and his brother subsequently sold the Yerres estate and moved into an apartment on the Boulevard Haussmann in Paris. Around 1874, Caillebotte had met and befriended several artists working outside the
Académie des Beaux-Arts, including
Edgar Degas and
Giuseppe de Nittis, and attended (but did not participate in) the
First Impressionist Exhibition of 1874. The "Impressionists"—also called the "Independents", "Intransigents", and "Intentionalists"—had broken away from the academic painters showing in the annual
Salons. Its subject, the depiction of labourers preparing a wooden floor (thought to have been that of the artist's own studio), was considered "vulgar" by some critics and is probably why the
Salon of 1875 rejected it. At the time, the art establishment deemed only rustic peasants or farmers acceptable subjects from the working class. By the third Impressionist exhibition in 1877, Caillebotte had assumed the leadership role for the events by securing rental space, selecting artists and works, and hanging works. Managing the desires and expectations of other aspiring artists was not without cost, however, and his involvement eventually declined. The tilted ground common to these paintings is characteristic of Caillebotte's work, which may have been strongly influenced by
Japanese prints and the new technology of photography, although evidence of his use of photography is lacking. Cropping and "zooming-in", techniques that commonly are found in Caillebotte's oeuvre, may also be the result of his interest in photography, but may just as likely be derived from his intense interest in perspective effects. A great number of Caillebotte's works also employ a very high vantage point, including
View of Rooftops (Snow) (Vue de toits (Effet de neige)) (1878), ''Boulevard Seen from Above (Boulevard vu d'en haut)
(1880), and A Traffic Island (Un refuge, boulevard Haussmann)'' (1880).
Themes '' (1876),
J. Paul Getty Museum Caillebotte painted many domestic and familial scenes, interiors, and portraits. Many of his paintings depict members of his family:
Young Man at His Window (Jeune Homme à la fenêtre) (1876) shows René in the home on rue de Miromesnil;
The Orange Trees (Les Orangers) (1878), depicts Martial Jr. and his cousin Zoé in the garden of the family property at
Yerres; and
Portraits in the Country (Portraits à la campagne) (1875) includes Caillebotte's mother along with his aunt, cousin, and a family friend. There are scenes of dining, card playing, piano playing, reading, and sewing, all executed in an intimate, unobtrusive manner that portrays the quiet ritual of upper-class indoor life. His country scenes at Yerres focus on pleasure boating on the leisurely stream as well as fishing and swimming, and domestic scenes around his country home. He often used a soft impressionistic technique reminiscent of
Renoir to convey the tranquil nature of the countryside, in sharp contrast to the flatter, smoother strokes of his urban paintings. In
Oarsman in a Top Hat (also known as
Boating Party [1877]), he effectively manages the perspective of a passenger in the back of a rowboat facing his rowing companion and the stream ahead in a manner much more realistic and involving than
Manet's
Boating (1874).
Boating Party was submitted by Caillebotte to the Fourth Impressionist Exhibition in 1879. He submitted a total of 35 paintings and
pastels to the 1879 exhibition.
Boating Party was considered one of the best of the set that also included
Vue de toits. '' (1877),
Art Institute of Chicago Caillebotte is best known for his paintings of urban Paris, such as
The Europe Bridge (''
Le Pont de l'Europe) (1876), and Paris Street; Rainy Day (Rue de Paris; temps de pluie
, also known as La Place de l'Europe, temps de pluie)
(1877). The latter is almost unique among his works for its particularly flat colors and photo-realistic effect, which give the painting its distinctive and modern look, almost akin to American Realists such as Edward Hopper. Many of his urban paintings were quite controversial due to their exaggerated, plunging perspective. In Man on a Balcony'' (1880), he invites the viewer to share the balcony with his subject and join in observing the scene of the city reaching into the distance, again by using unusual perspective. Showing little allegiance to any one style, many of Caillebotte's other urban paintings produced in the same period, such as
The Place Saint-Augustin (1877), are considerably more impressionistic. Caillebotte's
still life paintings focus primarily on food, some at table ready to be eaten and some ready to be purchased, as in a series of paintings he made of meat at a butcher shop. He also produced some floral still-life paintings, particularly in the 1890s. Rounding out his subject matter, he painted a few nudes, including
Homme au bain (1884) and
Nude on a Couch (1882), which, although provocative in its realism, is ambivalent in its mood—neither overtly erotic nor suggestive of mythology themes common to many nude paintings of women during that era. ==Later life==