The Musée d’Orsay close to our hotels has opened a new exhibition about the painter Gustave Caillebotte, specifically the way he painted men, one of his favourite subjects.

Caillebotte painted what he saw around him, with special attention paid to realism and a certain admiration for men, whether working or in private, both subjects rarely chosen for paintings of the time.

These virile men were living through the first real crisis of traditional masculinity, and Caillebotte’s paintings were thus questioning both social and sexual order.

Part of the the impetus for the exhibition has been two recent acquisitions of Caillebotte paintings, one by the J. Paul Getty Museum (Jeune homme à sa fenêtre) and the other by the Musée d’Orsay (Partie de bateau).

Both were were in private collections until around 2021 / 2022, and this is a great opportunity to see them up close in all their glory.

To prepare tour visit, this page has a dozen small sections giving more details about Caillebotte’s life (although some subjects have strangely been left in French). French speakers can even listen to the texts being read in French…

Linked with the exhibition, you might be interested in:

— a concert with the Chœur du Concert spirituel,

— an inaugural conference held by Paul Perrin, head of the museum’s collections and conservation,

— a new 55-minute French documentary called Gustave Caillebotte, héros discret de l’impressionnisme on national TV channel France 5 on Friday 1st November at 10.30pm,

— a round table about Caillebotte the art collector on 7th November, talking about the 70 works that the painter left to the French state upon his death. Participants include the four authors of a new French book on the subject (144 pages, around 35€ here at your local amazon).

But perhaps the two most unusual / interesting events are:

— the curieuse nocturne (or ‘strange late night’) on 5th December, with drag king performances, an immersive experience with five artists, DJs from 7.30-10pm and a showcase of music at 9.30pm from Mathieu Lescop…

… and on the evenings of the 5th, 6th & 7th December (until 10pm or 11pm depending on the day), a video-mapping called Caillebotte in light on the facade of the museum’s Seine side, made up of a dozen sequences (18 minutes in total) created in partnership with the École des Gobelins.

A catalogue of the exhibition (256 pages, around 45€) is also available here at your local amazon.

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The exhibition Caillebotte – Painting Men is at the Musée d’Orsay (here) until 19th January 2025

Open every day except Mondays from 9.30am-6pm (9.45pm Thursdays)

Admission: 16€ / 13€ (online sales here)

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