Gustave Caillebotte Painting Men by Edited by Scott Allan, Gloria Groom, and Paul Perrin

 I had hardly heard of Gustave Caillebotte before coming across this book but I like the Impressionists so this looked like interesting reading. Regarded in an almost condescending manner after his death as a wealthy dilettante painter, Caillebotte’s reputation has been elevated recently. This collection of essays takes a forensic look at his paintings of males, discussing several types of his art, including his depictions of workers, sportsmen and gentlemen in his immediate neighbourhood. 

Caillebotte focused on modernity, virility, independence and freedom in his detailed and realistic paintings. His paintings of workers, such as floor sweepers are especially interesting and unusual, although they reminded me of some by Australian Impressionists, such as Tom Roberts. His painting Man at His Bath is puzzling and was regarded as subversive. A whole essay is devoted to it.

This was enjoyable but the artistic jargon got on my nerves at times and I found it rather dense.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.