From 25 March to 11 July 2011, the Jacquemart-André Museum is presenting The Caillebotte Brothers’ Private World. Painter and photographer. An encounter between Impressionism and photography, this exhibition evokes the artistic and private world of the Caillebotte brothers.
This original perspective of Gustave’s paintings and Martial’s photography invites the visitor to enter the private world of a large Parisian family and explore the new urban lifestyle which was taking hold at the dawn of the XXth century. The Caillebotte brothers became witnesses of a period that was undergoing a major urban and technological transformation, and a way of life often illustrated by Impressionist artists.
An original exhibition
Gustave Caillebotte’s reputation for his talent as a painter and his role as patron of his Impressionist friends is well established. We also know that he had great affection for his brother Martial. But Martial himself, composer, pianist and photographer, remained relatively unknown.
However, a recent study of Martial’s photographic collection has revealed a great awareness of the subjects represented in the paintings of his brother Gustave: the views of Paris, the sailing boats, the gardens and the river banks. This discovery has enabled the Jacquemart-André Museum to do what no other museum has done before: compare Martial’s photographs directly with Gustave’s works.
Thanks to some exceptional loans from private and public collections, the exhibition reveals the underlying similarities between the Caillebotte brothers, by hanging 35 paintings alongside almost 150 modern prints for the first time. These prints were taken from Martial’s originals. Some of the paintings, which belong to private collections, have never been shown in public before.
A tale of family, a tale of friendship
Gustave (1848-1894) and Martial (1853-1910), and their brother René (1851-1876), were the children of Martial Caillebotte and Céleste Daufresne. Their half-brother from a previous marriage, Alfred Caillebotte (1834-1896) was ordained as a priest in 1858. An entrepreneur who made beds for the military, Martial Caillebotte Senior left a large fortune to his sons on his death in 1874. From that moment on, Gustave devoted himself to painting, while Martial dedicated himself to music. He composed several pieces for the piano (Airs de ballets, 1887) and some religious music, before discovering photography.
Gustave and Martial remained very close, having been marked by the death of their brother René in 1876 and their mother in 1878. The two brothers lived together and moved in the same circle of artists until Martial married in 1887. Two children were born of this marriage: Jean in 1888 and Geneviève in 1889. Gustave however remained a bachelor. On Gustave’s death in 1894, Martial, with Renoir’s help, made the necessary arrangements for the state to accept the bequest of the Impressionist paintings owned by his brother.
Shared enthusiasms
Gustave and Martial Caillebotte shared a number of enthusiasms. They became expert philatelists with their stamp collection. When Gustave became interested in horticulture, Martial photographed him at work in the garden or the greenhouse. Together they learned how to sail a yacht. Martial distinguished himself in all fields, for example winning several regattas in the sailing boats designed by Gustave.
The Caillebotte brothers depicted these shared interests in their painting and photography, thereby recreating the multiple aspects of their environment. With delicate touches, they evoke the gentle pace that characterised their lavish lifestyle, from Haussmann’s new Paris to family leisure pursuits.
Living in the new districts designed by Baron Haussmann, Gustave and Martial were privileged witnesses of the urban transformation which Paris underwent during this period. They were fascinated by symbols of modernity such as bridges and railways, and the hustle and bustle of the Parisian streets was one of their favourite themes. They were also very interested in outdoor activities. While gardening might have attracted their attention, the two sailing enthusiasts particularly enjoyed depicting sailing boats, boaters and bathers.
But they also cast a tender and sometimes amused eye on their friends and family, whose peaceful occupations they illustrated in a private setting. The days revolved around lunches and card parties, walks and reading: all themes that the brothers were particularly fond of.
The curatorial team
Nicolas Sainte Fare Garnot, an art historian specialising in seventeenth-century French painting, has been curator at the Jacquemart-André Museum since 1993. Since his appointment, he has reorganised the distribution of the collections according to the original programme and has initiated various restoration and inventory campaigns. Together with Culturespaces he has helped to create a new dynamic within the Museum by bringing his scientific approach to bear on temporary exhibitions whose subjects offer an opportunity to get to know the artists contained in the permanent collections.
Serge Lemoine has taught successively at the social sciences faculty in Dijon, at the Université Paris IV-Sorbonne and at the École du Louvre, where he created the chair of 20th century art. Appointed as director of the Musée de Grenoble in 1986, he was president of the Musée d’Orsay from 2001 to 2008. He has been the curator of exhibitions as prestigious as At the origins of abstraction (1800-1914) (Musée d’Orsay, 2003), Neo-impressionism, from Seurat to Paul Klee (Musée d’Orsay, 2005), Vienna 1900 (National galleries of the Grand Palais, 2005) and Maurice Denis (Musée d’Orsay, 2006)
Producer of the exhibition: Culturespaces delegate to the Jacquemart-André Museum
Culturespaces produces and manages, with an ethical and professional approach, monuments, museums and prestigious historic sites entrusted to it by public bodies and local authorities. These include the Jacquemart-André Museum in Paris, the Ephrussi de Rothschild and Kerylos Villas on the French Riviera, the Roman Theatre of Orange, the Château des Baux de Provence, the Nîmes Arena, the National Automobile and Train Museums in Mulhouse and the Waterloo Battlefield.
In 18 years, in close collaboration with curators and art historians, Culturespaces has organised many temporary exhibitions of international standing in Paris and in the regions. Culturespaces manages the whole chain of production for each exhibition, in close collaboration with the public owner, the curator and the exhibition sponsor: programming, loans, transport, insurance, set design, communications, partnership and sponsorship, catalogues and spin-off products.
Today Culturespaces works with some of the most prestigious national and international museums in the world.
Today Culturespaces works with some of the most prestigious national and international museums in the world.
Recent exhibitions organised at the Jacquemart-André Museum:
2010 Rubens, Poussin and 17th century artists
2010 From El Greco to Dalí. The great Spanish masters. The Pérez Simón collection – 200,000 visitors
2009 Bruegel, Memling, Van Eyck… The Brukenthal Collection – 240,000 visitors
2009 The Italian Primitives. Masterpieces of the Altenbourg Collection – 160,000 visitors.
2008 Van Dyck – 200,000 visitors
2007 Fragonard – 200,000 visitors
2006 The Thracians’ Gold – 150,000 visitors
2005 David, intimacy and grandeur – 150,000 visitors
Scenography by Hubert Le Gall
To make Gustave’s paintings and Martial Caillebotte’s photographs communicate with each other, Hubert Le Gall has designed an original and modern display.
Hubert Le Gall, born in 1961, is a French designer, creator and sculptor of contemporary art. His work has formed the subject of numerous exhibitions throughout Europe. Since 2000 he has produced original scenographies for exhibitions, including:
2010 – Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris – « Monet »
2010 – Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris – « France 1500, from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance »
2010 – Jacquemart-André Museum, Paris – « Rubens, Poussin and the 17th century artists »
2010 – Musée d’Orsay, Paris – « Crime and Punishment »
2010 – Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris – « From El Greco to Dalí. Les grands maîtres espagnols. La collection Pérez Simón »
2009 – Musée d’Orsay, Paris – “See Italy and Die. Photography and Painting in 19th Century Italy”
2009 – Musée du Luxembourg, Paris – “Louis Comfort Tiffany. Colors and Light”
2009 – Jacquemart-André Museum – “Bruegel, Memling, Van Eyck… The Brukenthal collection”
2009 - Jacquemart-André Museum – Paris “The Italian Primitives. The Altenburg collection”
2008 - Jacquemart-André Museum – Paris “Van Dyck”
2008 - Musée d’Orsay – Paris “Picasso-Manet, lunch on the grass”
