Born to a wealthy family who had made their money in textiles
and real estate during the redevelopment of Paris in the 1860s,
Gustave Caillebotte was an engineer by profession, but also
attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He met Edgar
Degas, Claude Monet,
and Pierre Auguste
Renoir in 1874 and helped organize the first impressionist
exhibition in Paris that same year. He participated in later
shows and painted some 500 works in a more realistic style
than that of his friends.
Wealthy and generous, Caillebotte financially supported his
Impressionist friends by purchasing their works at inflated
prices and underwriting many of the expenses encurred for
the exhibitions. Caillebotte was a painter of great originality.
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