Kudlac 1
Kaitie Kudlac
December 3, 2015
Richter
Impressionism and Post Impressionism
Through the Eyes of Money
Bare, lacking detail, smudged, and blurred, Boulevard Haussmann in the Snow (1881)
and Traffic Island on Boulevard Haussmann (1880) by Gustave Caillebotte are deceptively
straightforward. The lines are blurred, the people are out of focus, and the colors are meek and
smooth. However, as layers of paint are scraped away, a newly formed world emerges from
behind the camouflaged painting. Baron Haussmann revitalized Paris by means of destroying
the snaking streets and creating modern boulevards designed for seeing and being seen. Gustave
Caillebotte not only accomplishes this marriage of seemingly unrelated and juxtaposed ideas
through his painting, but does so in a way that gives an insight into Haussmannization that was
not possible for the other Impressionists like Degas, Manet, and Monet due to his socioeconomic
and familial standing. Caillebotte unites Haussmann to Baudelaire’s fleeting moment and
spontaneity. Specifically through his paintings “Boulevard Haussmann in the Snow” and “Traffic
Island on Boulevard Haussmann,” Caillebotte bonds and connects the steady and the fleeting;
the moment and the constant. He depicts the modern changing world through a single moment in
time. Through Boulevard Haussmann in the Snow and Traffic Island on Boulevard Haussmann
Caillebotte depicts the effects of Haussmannization and the details and particulars of the newly
formed modern Paris. Because of Caillebotte’s social and communal history, he was one of the
few artists who was able to accurately connect and illustrate through the Impressionistic
instantaneity the events, feelings, and way of life that Haussmannization created because of his
ability to empathize on a personal and socioeconomic level.
Kudlac 2
While many scholars such as, André Dombrowski in his publications on Degas, and T.J.
Clark in his book The Painting of Modern Life, have addressed how Impressionists depict facets
of modern life such as Haussmannization or Baudelaire’s flanneur, Caillebotte is able to capture
the quintessential marriage and unification of Haussmannization and modern life. As one of the
leading scholars on Gustave Caillebotte, Kirk Varnedoe, discusses and describes Caillebotte as
an often-overlooked impressionist, regularly equated with money and associated with a
repetitive, artistic portfolio. After the publication of Gustave Caillebotte by Kirk Varnedoe in the
late twentieth century, Caillebotte rose to the forefront of Impressionistic genius culminating in
his own lavish exhibition in the National Gallery this year.1 In his book Varnedoe details not
only many of Caillebotte’s most famous pieces such as Floor Scrapers or Paris Street Rainy
Day, but he also describes many of his forgotten works explaining the knowledge and skill of
Caillebotte and his earned position in the Impressionist circle. Mary Morton and George T.M.
Shakleford create an exhibition catalogue of the National Gallery retrospective that describes
Caillebotte, the person, the entrepreneur, and most importantly the artist. In the exhibition guide
of Caillebotte’s Exhibition at the National Gallery, Alexandra Wettlaufer’s article “Representing
Modernity in Baudelaire, Balzac, Zola, and Caillebotte” glazes over the connection of
Haussmannization to Caillebotte and instead focuses more on Caillebotte’s depiction of modern
life through her emphasis on viewpoints and depiction of figures in his work.2 She analyzes
Caillebotte’s role architecturally, linguistically and socially in Baron Haussmann’s Paris.
Michael Fried discusses Caillebotte’s interactive and situational relationship with artists that
1
Varnedoe, Kirk. Gustave Caillebotte. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987.
Print.
2
Wettlaufer, Alexandra K. Paintings of Modern Life: Representing Modernity in
Baudelaire, Balzac, Zola, and Caillebotte. Gustave Caillebotte: The
Painter's Eye. Comp. Mary Morton and George T.M. Shackelford. Chicago: The
University of Chicago Press, 2015. 71-83. Print.
Kudlac 3
influenced his rise to Impressionist glory, such as Courbet, Manet, and Degas.3 While Caillebotte
was influenced and appropriated artistic skills from these artists, Fried highlights Caillebotte’s
individual artistic genius and how this positioned him as a candidate for the limited
Impressionistic circle.
While it is important to consider Caillebotte’s relationship to other artists flanking and
belonging to the Impressionist circle to understand his rise to artistic genius, this paper explores
an undeveloped area of the recently popularized Gustave Caillebotte. Caillebotte was able to
create his own unique style and subject matter due to the relationships that he was able to foster
because of his position in upper middle class society. Caillebotte’s biography or social prestige,
specifically his socioeconomic status and his access to locations that only money could afford,
allowed him to create a style of Impressionism that depicted the fleeting moments of
Haussmannization.
After the disastrous period of the commune, newly instated Emperor Napoleon III turned
to Baron Haussmann to create a city that was both cohesive and, more importantly, riot proof.
What he did not intend to create was a modern city that revolutionized the way modern artists,
specifically Caillebotte, began to paint. The period known as Haussmannization took place under
Emperor Napoleon III during the Second Empire. As the Second Empire got underway, after the
Revolution of 1848, people were starting to realize that the city of Paris was out of date and did
not have the modern infrastructure, conveniences, and institutional edifices necessary for a new
modern government and, more importantly, a new era.4 Neighborhoods in Paris still dated back
to the medieval period and were characterized by small narrow passageways. Baron Haussmann,
Fried, Michael. "Caillebotte's Impressionism." Representations 66.Spring (1999):
1-10. Print.
4
Kirkland, Stephane. Paris Reborn: Napoleon III, Baron Haussmann, and the Quest
to Build a Modern City. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2013. Print. 27-39
3
Kudlac 4
hired by Emperor Napoleon, created and executed a plan for the new Paris in which the
government shifted away from the old picturesque city where many notorious events, like the
commune and various revolts and riots, had occurred and instead created a new more planned
vision with an aesthetic uniformity. Everything, from stores to housing, now had the same style
and a homogenous quality that had been missing in the Paris of earlier years.5 This new
homogenized Paris was filled with public spaces like the Opera and parks so that people could
see one another and the government could watch its revolt-prone citizens. Haussmann created
standardized housing in the form of five story tall apartment structures that overlooked the
lengthy law-abiding boulevards. Haussmannization also created boulevards for the seamless
movement of people to locations throughout the city. People no longer had to wander down
winding alleyways. They could instead meander on the wide, uninterrupted, rolling boulevards to
streets that had everything they could possibly need, from food, to housing. In Nancy Forgione’s
article she describes that Haussmannization allowed for, Paris to became a “city for the walker,”
or the “flaneur,” as Baudelaire would describe. The newly constructed boulevards and apartment
buildings didn’t just unite the city of Paris for the government. They created an intertwining of
the mind, body, and vision. Forgoine says walking created an interpersonal moment between the
stroller and those he witnessed, in that these thoughts and moments pondered were unique. These
rare and elusive moments allow for conversion of thoughts into ideas that artists, like Caillebotte,
transitioned from the mind onto canvas.
Caillebotte’s personal history and ancestral origins not only allowed him access to the
boulevards, street corners, buildings, and terraces from which he could observe Haussmann’s
5
Forgione, Nancy. "Everyday Life in Motion: The Art of Walking in
Late-Nineteenth-Century Paris." The Art Bulletin 87.4 (2005): 664-87.
Print. Kudlac 5
newly formed Paris, but it created a connection and opportunity that he was able to nurture that
allowed him to depict the urban Paris with an unprecedented authenticity. Caillebotte’s family
origins are not in Paris. The Caillebotte family emanates from the north of France, near
Normandy, in the Village of Ger.6 His family had long been established in the textile business.
His father, however, moved to Paris where Caillebotte was born as his mother, Celeste Daufresnr
and his father, Martial Caillebotte’s first son in August of 1848. Caillebotte’s father created and
established Chambray and Company, a textile enterprise that worked and was commissioned by
the government, specifically providing bedding to the French army. This familial connection and
relationship to the Second Empire and bourgeoisie allowed Caillebotte’s budding association
with the newly formed Paris. While Martial Caillebotte was fully committed to his growing
company, once it took off, in the beginning of the 1860s, he became a judge at the Commercial
Court further creating and elaborating on his son’s access to the wealthy upper class Parisian
society, while creating a relationship with those that directly impacted and decided upon the
events throughout Haussmannization. Due to his upper middle class family and affluent social
status, Caillebotte was able to afford the best schooling, which artistically began in the Ecole des
Beaux Arts, after obtaining a bachelor’s and master’s degree in law. While he did not begin the
early part of his life with an interest in art, once his father acquired a prominent piece of real
estate on the newly formed Boulevard Haussmann, Caillebotte created a studio to paint what he
saw on the spanning boulevard. In June of 1870 Caillebotte joined the ranks of the French Army
for the Franco Prussian War and later witnessed the citizen’s rebellion in Paris that led to the
notorious Commune. While this ended in a bloody civil war, the events allowed for the
6
Chardeau, Gilles. Caillebotte: A Biographical Chronology. Gustave Caillebotte:
The Painter's Eye. Comp. Mary Morton and George T.M. Shackelford. Chicago:
The University of Chicago Press, 2015. 233-47. Print. Kudlac 6
reconstruction of the city by Haussmann which created the subject matter and inspiration for
Caillebotte.7
Beginning in 1875, Caillebotte submitted his first rejected work to the Salon launching
him and most importantly, his money, into the Impressionist group. While Caillebotte was
acquainted with Degas, although through a third cousin, and Henri Rouart via money, he was
first truly acquainted with the Impressionist group when he began to buy Impressionist paintings
in 1875. Through his money he became closer with Impressionists such as Renoir and Monet. By
February of 1876 he was invited to show at the Second Impressionist Exhibition, where he
attempted to bridge the gap from patron to artist. As time went on, Caillebotte continued to
subsidize and provide to the Third Impressionist Exhibition contributing both his own work and
the works from his personal collection. However he also paid for a large portion of the exhibition
through invitations, advertisements, picture hanging, and paying for the venue all together.8
Throughout his life he was able to pay his way into to the Impressionist group by funding not
only exhibitions and locales but also artists like Monet.9 While his importance and contribution
to the Impressionist movement and group largely impacted his work, ultimately his arrival to his
own apartment on the Boulevard Haussmann with his brother in 1879 launches him into the crux
of his work, the depiction of boulevards and scenes of Haussmannization.
Caillebotte’s paintings Boulevard Haussmann in the Snow and Traffic Island on
Boulevard Haussmann depict the marriage of Haussmanization and Caillebotte’s personal
7
Varnedoe, Kirk. Gustave Caillebotte. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987.
Print. 1-10
8
Chardeau, Gilles. Caillebotte: A Biographical Chronology. Gustave Caillebotte:
The Painter's Eye. Comp. Mary Morton and George T.M. Shackelford. Chicago:
The University of Chicago Press, 2015. 233-47. Print.
9
Marrinan, Michael. "Caillebotte's Deep Focus." Gustave Caillebotte: The
Painter's Eye. Comp. Mary Morton and George T.M. Shackelford. Chicago: The
University of Chicago Press, 2015. 23-37. Print. Kudlac 7
history through their portrayal of timely subject matter but compositionally as well in the
framing of Haussmanization. Caillebotte, in Traffic Island on Boulevard Haussmann, depicts a
wide spacious boulevard with the newly revolutionized traffic circle. The invention of the traffic
circle only arose due to the need to control the growing amount of traffic as a result of
Haussmannization.10 Caillebotte shows the new gaslights that were hallmarks of
Haussmannization since they could not functionally exist in the winding medieval streets of old
Paris. Compositionally, Caillebotte depicts a view that was only possible from an apartment,
specifically his own apartment, which was created by Haussmann, to facilitate the viewer and the
eyes from the street. Towards the end of his life, Marital Caillebotte purchased an elusive and
expensive apartment on the Boulevard Haussmann for his two sons to live in as they fulfilled
their societal duty as flaneurs. While it is unclear if the apartment was purchased so that
Caillebotte could paint scenes of the boulevard, he took the opportunity to set up a studio with a
large pane window that looked over the famous Boulevard, privileging him to a view that many
were incapable of witnessing. The frame tilts up toward the viewer as if the Haussmannized
apartment is created to view the Boulevard, in that the Boulevard is the focal point. In the
painting as well we see a tension and anxiety start to arise that Caillebotte keenly captures that
had not been so apparent before Haussmannization and would have been hard for people of a
lesser than upper middle class status to understand or grasp. The boulevard is the action that
everyone is feasting their eyes on. Haussmannization opened the spiraling streets of Paris; it
unified and united the classes of Paris, in that there was no longer a spatial distinction between
classes. Lower and upper classes intermingled now more than ever.11 Caillebotte creates and
10Varnedoe, Kirk. Gustave Caillebotte. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987.
Print. 146
11
Kessler, Marni. "Filters and Pathologies: Caillebotte and Manet in Haussmann’s
Kudlac 8
acknowledges this tension through the two figures that create a symmetrical line through the
middle of the traffic island.
Further in A Traffic Island, Boulevard Haussmann, Caillebotte takes his own money
infused artistic characteristics and blends them with those of the influential Impressionist
movement. By eliminating the horizon and all other aspects of apartment buildings or
government palaces, the picture space is flattened to draw the viewer’s attention to the
importance of the Boulevard and subconsciously the importance of the gaslights. Caillebotte uses
the influence of Impressionism to push forward and emphasize his own agenda, the depiction of
the Haussmannization that money, money that he was very akin to, could fund. There is an
influence of the fleeting moment or the photographic picture plane evident. The flaneur in the
bottom right of the frame is cropped while the long spanning boulevard is highlighted by the
prominent thick line of the curb. Caillebotte, while potentially influenced by photography, does
not worry about the unique angle or cropping of his image, as the people are not the importance,
but rather where the people are and the location that they are coming from or more importantly
going too. While a large majority of the image is suggestive with brushy loose free formed
brushstrokes, the lines of the boulevard, the curves of the traffic circle, and the edges of the lamp
posts are defined to not only call attention to the innovativeness of Haussmannization but to also
draw the viewer’s attention away from the figures that are of little importance to Caillebotte in
this image. Caillebotte also paints the image with a lack of focus, almost as if there is no specific
picture frame and that this is a scene of everyday life that is possible from any of the
Haussmannized apartments, it is unique yet ordinary all at the same time.
Boulevard Haussmann in the Snow captures not only the Impressionistic passion and
fixation with weather but superimposes this often grimy dreary weather pattern that many
Kudlac 9
avoided, on to the Boulevard Haussmann to maintain his pervasive modern subject matter. While
this image is coated in snow the perspective is similar to that of Traffic Island on Boulevard
Haussmann. The jagged iron line of the balcony from the newly constructed Haussmannized
apartment intersects and separates the picture plane but dominates the foreground
simultaneously. An unseen observer, likely the artist himself or his bourgeois brother, looks out
across the long elegant unbroken boulevard. The lack of people in the piece allows the viewer to
focus on the precise details and impacts of Haussmannization on Caillebotte’s style. Because of
the creation of the new apartments, which Caillebotte was fortunate enough to live in with his
brother, he was privileged a scene of daily life that was inaccessible to many other
Impressionists. Specifically in regards to this piece, he was able to paint a weather induced scene
from a window, allowing him a more accurate depiction of the snow compared to a painter who
would have to observe the snow and then retreat back to a studio and capture the essence from
memory. Compared to Monet’s depiction of weather specifically in his views of Argenteuil or
the Gare Saint Lazare or city scape paintings painted from a lower level, Caillebotte rises above
and paints from a Haussmannized balcony that he and few others were able to afford, allowing
him a unique and rare view. Boulevard Haussmann in the Snow contains a subtle implication of
the upper middle class erasing out the unpleasant and less tasteful elements through the blurring
of the picture space outside of the concretely lined Boulevard. The brushwork of the piece
creates a non-continuous fragmented picture space that is obstructed by the blurred lines of the
hallmark and iconic Haussmannized gas lamps. The snow coats the top of the apartment
buildings drawing attention to their height and size along with their modernity.
Many Impressionists of the late 1870s and early 1880s were painting modern life as it
struck them in their daily activities, while glazing over Haussmannization, merely referencing it
Kudlac 10
by depicting a the occasional boulevard or apartments on the outskirts of their blurry brushy
images. Caillebotte takes not only a combination of the boulevards and apartment buildings, but
also incorporates the public settings that arose out of Haussmannization and most importantly the
viewpoints. Caillebotte utilizes the Impressionistic tilting of the picture frame to capture a new
viewpoint that encompasses the entirety of Haussmann’s new Paris, specifically the creation of
balconies off of these apartment buildings. While his career was short lived due to an untimely
death at an early age, his influence, documentation, and portrayal of the events and results of
Haussmannization are unparalleled and largely due to a view that only money and status could
afford.
Bibliography:
Chardeau, Gilles. Caillebotte: A Biographical Chronology. Gustave Caillebotte: The Painter's
Eye. Comp. Mary Morton and George T.M. Shackelford. Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press, 2015. 233-47. Print.
Forgione, Nancy. "Everyday Life in Motion: The Art of Walking in Late-Nineteenth-Century
Paris." The Art Bulletin 87.4 (2005): 664-87. Print.
Fried, Michael. "Caillebotte's Impressionism." Representations 66.Spring (1999): 1-51. Print.
Kessler, Marni. "Filters and Pathologies: Caillebotte and Manet in Haussmann’s Paris."
Nineteenth-Century Contexts: An Interdisciplinary Journal 27.3 (2005): 245-68. Print.
Kirkland, Stephane. Paris Reborn: Napoleon III, Baron Haussmann, and the Quest to Build a
Modern City. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2013. Print.
Kudlac 11
Marrinan, Michael. "Caillebotte's Deep Focus." Gustave Caillebotte: The Painter's Eye. Comp.
Mary Morton and George T.M. Shackelford. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,
2015. 23-37. Print.
Varendoe, Kirk. Gustave Caillebotte. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987. Print.
Wettlaufer, Alexandra K. Paintings of Modern Life: Representing Modernity in Baudelaire,
Balzac, Zola, and Caillebotte. Gustave Caillebotte: The Painter's Eye. Comp. Mary
Morton and George T.M. Shackelford. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2015.
71-83. Print.