Portraits in the Countryside

Caillebotte's style belongs to the School of Realism but was strongly influenced by his Impressionist associates. In common with the works done by his precursors, Jean-François Millet and Gustave Courbet, as well his contemporary Degas, Caillebotte aimed to paint reality as it existed and as he witnessed it, hoping to reduce painting's inherent theatricality. Perhaps due to his close relationship with so many of his peers, his style and technique vary considerably among his works, as if he was 'borrowing' from others and experimenting, but not really sticking to any one style. The tilted ground common to these paintings is very characteristic of Caillebotte's work, which may have been strongly influenced by Japanese prints and the new technology of photography, though evidence of his actual use of photography is lacking. The techniques of cropping and 'zooming-in', so commonly found in Caillebotte's oeuvre, may also be the result of his interest in photography, but may just as likely derive from his intense interest in the effects of perspective.