Painting men | France Culture

In 1974, during the centenary of Impressionism at the Grand-Palais, there was only one painting by Gustave Caillebotte represented. Caillebotte is now recognized for its true value. To go further in the artist’s journey and the understanding of his work, Alain Finkielkraut receives Stéphane Guégan, historian and art critic, specialist in the 19th and 20th centuries, scientific advisor to the Gustave Caillebotte exhibition, Painting men, at the Musée d’Orsay, and Dominique Bona, essayist, novelist, author of Destiny of women (Books 2024)

“Bourgeois and workers strolling in Haussmann’s Paris, floor planers and boaters caught in the effort, young singles playing cards or observing the city from their balconies, naked men at their toilet… The male figures and portraits of men dominate the work of Gustave Caillebotte (1848 – 1894), unlike his colleagues Degas, Manet or Renoir.” (…)
Official catalog of the exhibition “Caillebotte, painting men“ at the Musée d’Orsay from October 8, 2024 to January 19, 2025. Co-edition Musée d’Orsay / Éditions Hazan 2024.

We will begin with Caillebotte’s most famous painting, and all the more singular because he painted the city’s workers, who had rarely been the subject of paintings: Parquet planersa painting from 1875.Gustave Caillebotte was 27 years old.