Culturespaces, delegate to the Jacquemart

1
THE CAILLEBOTTE BROTHERS’
PRIVATE WORLD
Painter and photographer
Jacquemart-André Museum
25 March – 11 July 2011
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.
A unique exhibition
Gustave Caillebotte’s reputation as a painter and his role as patron among 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 his brother’s paintings: 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 50 paintings alongside almost
130 modern photographic for the first time. These prints were taken from Martial’s original works.
Some of the paintings, which belong to private collections, have never been shown in public
before.
2
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 upon 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 union: 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 that his brother owned.
Shared enthusiasms
Gustave and Martial Caillebotte shared a number of passions. 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 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.
3
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.
4
Recent exhibitions organised at the Jacquemart-André Museum:
2010 Rubens, Poussin and 17th century artists – 150,000 visitors
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”
5
VISUALS FREE FOR PRESS
GUSTAVE CAILLEBOTTE
Roses, garden at Petit Gennevilliers
1886, oil on canvas, 89 x 116 cm, private collection
© Photo Alberto Ricci
Fishing
1878, oil on canvas, 157 x 113 cm, private collection
© Collection privée
A balcony
1880, oil on canvas, 69 x 62 cm, private collection
© Collection privée
Bathers, banks of the Yerres
1878, oil on canvas, 157 x 117 cm, private collection
© Collection privée
6
MARTIAL CAILLEBOTTE
Camille Minoret watering the hydrangeas
Photographic prints, 17 x 22 cm, private collection
© Collection particulière – D.R.
Gustave Caillebotte and Bergère at Place du Carrousel
Photographic prints, 15,5 x 10,5 cm, private collection
© Collection particulière – D.R.
Young boy with sailing boat at Petit Gennevilliers
Photographic prints, 11,5 x 8 cm, private collection
© Collection particulière – D.R.
Maurice Minoret photographing Jean and Geneviève Caillebotte
Photographic prints, 17 x 12,5 cm, private collection
© Collection particulière – D.R.
7
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
A stone’s throw from the Champs-Elysées, the Musée Jacquemart-André presents Paris’s finest private art
collection in the setting of a grand 19th century mansion. Visit this magnificent town residence, the
product of the passion of Edouard André and his wife Nélie Jacquemart, with its stunning collection, which
in particular includes major works by the great Flemish masters, paintings of the 18th century French
school and others by some of the most distinguished artists of the Italian Renaissance.
OPENING TIMES AND RATES
Open 365 days a year from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Open every Monday evening until 9.30 p.m.
The Jacquemart-André tea room is open from 11.45
a.m. to 5.30 p.m. and from 11 a.m. to 15 p.m. on
Sundays.
The cultural gift and bookshop is open when the
Exhibition audio guide: €3
Permanent collection audio guide: free
Free for children under 7 and the disabled.
Family Rate
Pay the admission charge for two adults and one child
and the second child gets in free (7 to 17 years).
museum is open, including Sundays.
Individual
Groups
Group visits are only subject to reservation:
Fill rate: €10
[email protected]. Groups are
Reduced rate: €8.50 (students, children from 7 to 17,
not admitted to the exhibition rooms after 2.00 pm.
job-seekers)
ACCESS
Jacquemart-André Museum
158, boulevard Haussmann - 75008 PARIS
Tel. : + 33 (0)1 45 62 11 59
www.musee-jacquemart-andre.com
The museum is located 400m from place Charles de
Gaulle-Étoile.
Metro : lines 9 and 13 (Saint-Augustin, Miromesnil or
Saint-Philippe du Roule)
RER : RER A (Charles de Gaulle-Étoile)
Bus : 22, 43, 52, 54, 28, 80, 83, 84, 93.
Car park : Haussmann-Berri
Station Velib: rue de Berri
The temporary exhibition rooms are not accessible to people with reduced mobility.
8