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Background information
"Alongside Monet and Renoir, Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894) is one of France's great Impressionists. His paintings of Paris as well as portraits and still lifes impress with their daring perspectives and unusual cropping. The proximity of his paintings to modern photography, which would only develop much later, is unmistakable. The out-of-print catalog volume 'Gustave Caillebotte. An Impressionist and Photography' illustrates the proximity of the French painter to photography. He revolutionized Impressionist painting and concentrated on unusual views and perspectives in his depictions of Paris: The vertical view into the depths from windows, rooftops and balconies creates a queasy feeling in the viewer. The view of the street through an ornate balcony lattice, for example, only gives an idea of what can be seen below: passers-by, carriages, trees. This results in picture details that look as realistic as in a photograph, but also seem strange and irritating - just as the Impressionist would have liked.
When he showed his paintings for the first time at an Impressionist exhibition in 1876, his critics accused him of reproducing reality 'photographically': an overly naturalistic and realistic depiction of things had nothing to do with art. However, the painter set standards within Impressionist art: he anticipated techniques and themes that only became established in photography in the 1920s as 'New Vision'. It is clear that the artist was far ahead of his time with his pictorial forms. Photographers such as André KERTÉSZ, WOLS and László MOHOLY-NAGY are particularly close to the work of Gustave Caillebotte. Some of their pictures take up the same motifs or show a section from the same perspective. For example, there are shots of streets and squares in a steep top view, as can already be found in Caillebotte's paintings. The photographs by Édouard BALDUS, Charles MARVILLE and Eugène ATGET document the image of the 'capital of the 19th century', to which the Impressionist also preferred to devote himself.
Content
The catalog volume 'Gustave Caillebotte. An Impressionist and Photography' presents around fifty important works by the painter and juxtaposes them with more than one hundred and fifty photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries. In this way, the parallels between his paintings and modern photography are shown. On 245 pages, this out-of-print volume provides an overview of the work of the artist Gustave Caillebotte. At the same time, it takes the reader on a journey to 19th century Paris: imposing buildings point to technical progress, people hurry through the busy streets. The artist's motifs and techniques are reflected in numerous photographs, some of which were taken later. The pictures are thematically matched to the paintings and sketches by Gustave Caillebotte. A dozen essays by renowned authors such as Ulrich Pohlmann complement the large-format plates and illustrations. The art historian Karin Sagner deals with Gustave Caillebotte as an impressionist and his proximity to photography. Another essay is dedicated to the depiction of street life in 19th century photographs. Short texts take a closer look at individual pictures by the painter, explaining how they were created and the artist's intentions in selecting certain perspectives and views. A short biography of Caillebotte concludes the catalog volume." (© Hirmer Verlag, 2013)
About the photographers represented with their works in the catalog volume
- André KERTÉSZ, WOLS (Wolfgang Otto Alfred SCHULZE), László MOHOLY-NAGY, Édouard BALDUS, Charles MARVILLE, Eugène ATGET, Charles Hippolyte AUBRY, Captain N. BAILY, BERTHAUD Frères, Aenne BIERMANN, Ilse BING, BISSON Frères, Wilhelm BURGER, Henri CARTIER-BRESSON, Etienne CLÉMENTEL, Alvin Langdon COBURN, Auguste-Hippolyte COLLARD, DORNAC (Paul Francois Arnold CARDON), Jérome DOUCET, Louis Emile DURANDELLE, Georg Maria ECKERT, Werner GRÄFF, Louis Jean Baptiste IGOUT, Hermann HEID, Hippolyt JOUVIN, August KOTZSCH, Jacques-Henri LARTIGUE, Jan LAUSCHMANN, Gustave LE GRAY, Henri LE SECQ, Herbert LIST, Albert LONDE, Eadweard MUYBRIDGE, Antonin-Louis NEURDEIN, Constant PUYO, Albert RENGER-PATZSCH, Paul RICHER, Henri RIVIÈRE, Giorgio SOMMER, Charles SOULIER, Otto STEINERT, Alfred STIEGLITZ, C. P.STIRN, Thomas STRUTH, Oscar SUCK, John THOMPSON, Gaston TISSANDIER (and Jacques DUCOM), UMBO (Otto UMBEHR); Loius VERT, J. VEROTIER
Photo books with works by the photographers represented with their works in the catalog
- ATGET, Eugène Jean
AUBRY, Charles Hippolyte
BAILY, Captain N.
BALDUS, Édouard Denis
BERTHAUS, Michael / Frères
BIERMANN, Aenne
BING, Ilse
BISSON, Frères
BURGER, Wilhelm
CARTIER-BRESSON, Henri
CLÉMENTEL, Etienne
COBURN, Alvin Langdon
COLLARD, Auguste-Hippolyte
DORNAC (Paul Francois Arnold CARDON)
DOUCET, Jérome
DURANDELLE, Louis Emile
ECKERT, Georg Maria
GRÄFF, Werner
HEID, Hermann
IGOUT, Louis Jean Baptiste
JOUVIN, Hippolyte
KERTÉSZ, André
KOTZSCH, August
LARTIGUE, Jacques-Henri
LAUSCHMANN, Jan
LE GRAY, Gustave
LE SECQ, Henri
LIST, Herbert
LONDE, Albert
MARVILLE, Charles
MOHOLY-NAGY, László
MUYBRIDGE, Eadweard
NEURDEIN, Antonin-Louis
PUYO, Constant
RENGER-PATZSCH, Albert
RICHER, Paul
RIVIÈRE, Henri
SOMMER, Giorgio
SOULIER, Charles
STEINERT, otto
STIEGLITZ, Alfred
STIRN, C.P.
STRUTH, Thomas
SUCK, Oscar
THOMPSON, John
TISSANDIER, Gaston (and Jacques DUCOM)
UMBO (UMBEHR, Otto)
WOLS (Wolfgang Otto Alfred SCHULZE