Already 100,000 visitors to “Gustave Caillebotte. Painter and Patron of Impressionism”

16.08.2019
Alte Nationalgalerie

On August 16, 2019, Ji Yong-Sung became the 100,000th visitor of the exhibition "Gustave Caillebotte. Painter and Patron of Impressionism" at Alte Nationalgalerie. The exhibition is open until 15 September 2019.

This Friday, Ji Yong-Sung from Bergisch-Gladbach near Cologne was welcomed by Udo Kittelmann, Director of the Nationalgalerie - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, and Ralph Gleis, Head of the Alte Nationalgalerie and curator of the exhibition, as the 100,000th visitor of "Gustave Caillebotte. Painter and Patron of Impressionism". She and her husband were impressed by Caillebotte's impressionistic icon "Paris Street, Rainy Day" from 1877, which is framed in the show by numerous preliminary studies by the artist and the Impressionist collection of the Alte Nationalgalerie. Caillebotte's large-format major work has never been seen in Berlin before, and was loaned to the Alte Nationalgalerie by the Art Institute of Chicago in exchange for Edouard Manet's famous "Dans la serre".

About the exhibition

Gustave Caillebotte (1848–1894) was one of the central figures of French Impressionism, yet he is among those artists who remain to be discovered today. His fame was initially founded on his role as a patron, and only later did he gain full recognition as a painter.

Caillebotte’s groundbreaking piece with its almost life-sized figures and unconventional perspective was presented at the Third Impressionist Exhibition of 1877, and even today it has lost none of its intriguing allure. “Paris Street, Rainy Day” exemplifies both the Impressionists ‘new vision’ and Caillebotte’s adoption of modern urban motifs. Carefully selected studies and preparatory sketches for his principal work allow visitors to the exhibition to better understand this atypical Impressionist’s creative process.

This focussed exhibition in the Alte Nationalgalerie will simultaneously highlight Caillebotte’s role as a patron. At only twenty-nine years old in 1877, he was not only the youngest but also the most active member of this group. As a man of considerable wealth, he played a leading role in financing and organising the first group exhibitions. For such occasions he would often lend works – by fellow artists such as Renoir, Manet, Degas, Cézanne and Monet – from his own collection. The tight network of the Impressionists, in whose midst Caillebotte found himself as friend and supporter, will become apparent in this exhibition in the Alte Nationalgalerie. The special loan from Chicago will allow new readings of the local collection of French Impressionist works, by illustrating the numerous connections between Caillebotte and his fellow artists.

Caillebotte’s endowment of his important collection to the French state helped the Impressionists, despite some obstacles, to finally achieve the recognition that had previously failed to materialise for them through public collections. There are also parallels between Caillebotte’s influence and that of Hugo von Tschudi, thendirector of the Nationalgalerie, who simultaneously accomplished the same goals through his acquisition policy in Berlin.