Foreword and Acknowledgements

Foreword and Acknowledgements Today Gustave Caillebotte is one of the least known of the decided in 1876 would go to the French State. The donation Impressionist painters, but Impressionism would not have came to consist of no fewer than 60 paintings by his friends: been the same without his works and without his great com - Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Camille mitment to the movement. During the years when this Pissarro, and Paul Cézanne. These paintings were the first group of painters disregarded their differences in order to works by the Impressionists in a French museum. Today define a modern style of painting, Caillebotte was on the ab - they are among the most prized masterpieces in the Parisian solute front line. He contributed not only his art, but also Musée d’Orsay. his passionate efforts to promote the group. He was an im - However, there may be several reasons for the oblivion. portant force in the organization of the group’s exhibitions At the time Émile Zola defined Impressionist painting as and generously supported a number of its most significant “nature seen through a temperament.” But very different artists economically. Yet his works were later forgotten, re - temperaments met in the movement—and Caillebotte maining in private collections, and it was only in exhibitions made a great contribution to its breadth. In the catalogue he in our own time that he had his international break - is called an “irritating” and “difficult” painter because, even through—first in France, the USA, and England, and later in to the modern eye, he is not an artist who simply fits in. Switzerland. The exhibition Gustave Caillebotte: A Parisian He was uncompromising, with a perfectionism bordering Impressionist with a Passion for Water will for the first time on arrogance; but first and foremost he was passionate and present this neglected Impressionist to the public in Ger - obsessed with development—also for development’s own many, Scandinavia, and Spain. At the same time it is our am - sake. He was a passionate adherent of modernity and bition to present new information about the artist by focus - progress, and contributed to the radicality of Impression - ing for the first time on his lifelong passion for water. ism, just as his rediscovery in our own time has given rise to But why was Caillebotte forgotten? One explanation a new understanding of the movement. It is this develop - may be that his works have remained in private hands right ment to which we wish to contribute with the exhibition, down to our own time. Unlike many of the other Impres - also by including his “irritating” or “difficult” sides—those sionists, Caillebotte, as a member of a very well-to-do fam - aspects that do not conform to the normal understanding of ily, had no financial incentive to sell his works. The majority “Impressionism” and that are difficult to fit into an “art ex - of his pictures therefore remained in the family, and it was hibition.” This description applies not least to his fervent later that museums and public collections were able to ac - commitment to the art of sailing, which took on greater and quire works by him. For many years the monumental work greater importance towards the end of his short life. The Floor Scrapers was the only painting that could be seen The “new painting” was not Caillebotte’s only mission. in a museum. On the death of the artist in 1894, thanks to In contrast to the other Impressionists he had several mis - his brother Martial and to the painter Pierre-Auguste sions. This sense of mission can especially be seen in his in - Renoir, it became part of the bequest that Caillebotte had volvement in yachtsmanship, which like his involvement in 7 Impressionism applied to the whole of yachtsmanship; that century. They express a wish to offer the public a new and is, not only his successful participation in yacht races but different perspective on the works in the museum’s Impres - also the invention and realization of new boat types, the de - sionist collection. velopment of an exemplary boatyard, and the actual organ - At Ordrupgaard there has long been a desire to present a ization of the sport of yachting through the club known as Gustave Caillebotte exhibition. The museum has an exclu - the Cercle de la Voile de Paris and the periodical Le Yacht. sive collection of Caillebotte’s contemporaries with major The focus of the exhibition is the point where Caille - works by Degas, Monet, and Gauguin. However, in the early botte’s two most important missions meet. It begins with his decades of the twentieth century, when the collection was uncompromising interpretations of life in the modern city built up through purchases made by the insurance company and shows pictures where Caillebotte, without nostalgia, lets director Wilhelm Hansen, works by Caillebotte were not modern conditions shape his gaze. The high point of the ex - available on the market. Therefore, with his original contri - hibition in this part is where his painterly interpretations of bution to Impressionism, Caillebotte sheds new light on the motion through the water reach an artistic climax in the museum’s own works. In the past few years Ordrupgaard pictures of oarsmen and canoeists, which in the eighteen- has shown several special exhibitions based on the French seventies shocked the public at the Impressionist exhibi - art of the nineteenth century—most recently Gauguin and tions. From there the exhibition moves on to the eighteen- Impressionism , which inaugurated a new annex designed by eighties, when the Impressionist group began to break up the world-famous architect Zaha Hadid, and before that and Caillebotte went to live in Petit Gennevilliers to give free exhibitions such as Monet in Norway , Delacroix: The Music rein to his fervent commitment to yachting. There his own of Painting, and Degas and New Orleans . The exhibition yachts became the subject of his paintings, and he reached a Gustave Caillebotte thus continues this tradition. It fulfils a new artistic peak in his designs for yachts whose aesthetics wish to spread knowledge of French art nationally in Den - are fully a match for the abstract sculptures of a later age. mark and to make an international contribution with new perspectives on French art. The Kunsthalle Bremen and Ordupgaard have teamed We are grateful to all those who have helped the project up to jointly present this exhibition about Gustave Caille - on its way. The exhibition would not have been possible botte because the artist fits excellently with the exceptional without support from the descendants of Gustave Caille - inventories of Impressionist painting that these museums botte. The various family members have kindly made hold in their collections. We are glad that the Museo pictures available, such that the public, which rarely has an Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid will be the third venue for opportunity to see these paintings, can make their acquain - the exhibition. tance. We send our warmest thanks to the family for their In recent years Kunsthalle Bremen has shown exhibi - involvement and generosity. Special thanks must go to Gilles tions of the truly great artists of the nineteenth century: Van Chardeau, who as president of the Caillebotte Committee Gogh: Fields in 2002 and Monet and Camille in 2005. The and a member of the family, has been of great help in the museum has also made great efforts to introduce the public work with the exhibition—not only has he provided invalu - to lesser known artists such as Eugène Carrière in 2006 and able support in liaising with the Caillebotte family mem - looks forward to showing an exhibition of Jean-Louis bers, he has also contributed to the development of the Forain. Exhibitions like these create awareness of the diver - exhibition with his wide knowledge and his engagement. We sity of French art in the second half of the nineteenth are very grateful too to all the private lenders as well as the 8 many museums who have willingly made their works avail - scribes Caillebotte’s significance in the sport of yachting; able for the exhibition. and Gilles Chardeau has contributed a biography. For the Kunsthalle Bremen and Ordrupgaard it was Finally we wish our visitors in Germany, Scandinavia, something entirely new to exhibit boats and half-models. and Spain all the best in their discovery of Gustave Caille - We thank our advisor, Daniel Charles, and the lenders, the botte. Yacht Club de France as well as Marine and Patrick Bigand, who have supported us outstandingly in this area. In Bre - Wulf Herzogenrath men we succeeded in bringing a replica of Caillebotte’s sail - Director, Kunsthalle Bremen boat Roastbeef into the museum, which was a special logis - tical challenge, and for this we very heartily thank Christophe Anne-Birgitte Fonsmark Dirlik, President of the Association Sequana boatyard for Director, Ordrupgaard historical boats in Chatou near Paris, and his volunteer team. Guillermo Solana Our warmest thanks to a number of institutions and Chief Curator, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza individuals who in one way or another have helped us dur - ing the work: to Galerie Brame et Lorenceau in Paris, who helped us with information and photographic material; to Sophie Petri of the Wildenstein Institute in Paris; as well as staff at Christie’s and Sotheby’s who have helped us to locate works by Caillebotte in private collections. The same applies to the foundations and sponsors who have supported the exhibition at Kunsthalle Bremen and at Ordrupgaard. The exhibition has been developed in close, fruitful col - laboration between Kunsthalle Bremen and Ordrupgaard, and the museum curators Dorothee Hansen and Gry Hedin must be warmly thanked for their great engagement in the project.

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