Interior

Caillebotte was French Impressionist painter and an early collector of Impressionist paintings. Caillebotte studied under Bonnat and submitted his first painting ("Floor Scrapers") to the Salon in 1875 and it was promptly rejected. He participated in three of the Impressionist exhibits. His tightly rendered forms and subdued color schemes, however contrasted markedly with the loose brushwork and heightened palettes preferred by his fellow artists. In 1874 after his father's death he inherited a considerable fortune. He utilized his financial resources to become one the Impressionists primary patrons, acquiring an extensive collection. In his later years he spent less time painting and more time sailing and working in his garden. Caillebotte died of pulmonary congestion in 1894. In his will he left his entire collection to the French government providing it hang in the Musee du Luxembourg first. Today forty works from his collection hang in the Musee d'Orsay.