Gustave Caillebotte

Ambroise Vollard, Paris (acquired circa 1893)
Sale: Chevau-Légers, Versailles, March 5, 1972, lot 79
Private Collection, United States (acquired at the above sale)
Wildenstein & Company, London
Acquired from the above on November 7, 1977

Birmingham, Birmingham Museum of Art, French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, 1973, no. 33
Cape Town, South African National Gallery, French Paintings of the Turn of the Century, 1974, no. 5

Marie Berhaut, Caillebotte, Sa Vie et son oeuvre. Catalogue raisonné des peintures et pastels, Paris, 1978, no. 225, illustrated p. 157
Pierre Wittmer, Caillebotte au jardin. La période d'Yerres (1960-1879), Saint-Rémy-en-l'Eau, 1990, illustrated p. 246
Marie Berhaut, Gustave Caillebotte, Catalogue raisonné des peintures et pastels, nouvelle édition revue et augmentée, Paris, 1994, no. 203, illustrated p. 151

This work was signed by Martial Caillebotte, the artist's brother. It is in very good condition. The canvas is not lined. The surface is richly textured and the impasto is well-preserved. The pigments are bright and fresh. There is some hairline craquelure in the darkest green pigment around the central flower bed and in the trees. Under UV: there is a thin varnish. There are a few pin-dots of in-painting: in each of the upper corners, towards the center left and three larger spots in the foliage of the upper right quadrant.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In 1881 Gustave Caillebotte purchased a house in Petit-Gennevilliers, on the banks of the Seine near Argenteuil. From 1888 until the end of his life this became his permanent base. He stopped exhibiting his work and devoted himself to his favorite activities, notably painting and gardening. A keen gardener, he oversaw the landscaping of magnificent grounds and an elaborate greenhouse at his new property, cultivating exotic species of flora including a variety of orchids, and corresponding about horticulture with his friend Claude Monet, who had taken on a similar project at his home in nearby Giverny. Regular visitors to Petit-Gennevilliers included Pierre-Auguste Renoir, with whom Caillebotte would converse at length about art, politics, literature and philosophy.

These picturesque surroundings and new pace of life were inevitably reflected in Caillebotte's artistic output. Whereas during the 1870s he had devoted himself to depicting the architecture and boulevards of his native Paris, after the acquisition of the house at Petit-Gennevilliers he turned his attention to painting the gardens of his new home and the adjacent countryside. The sensual beauty of this landscape resulted in several lush and intimate compositions, of which Massif de fleurs is a poignant example. As Jacques Hillairent underlines, “the garden at Petit-Gennevilliers bears witness to an evolution in Caillebotte’s art towards a greater freedom, towards a spontaneity close to that of his friend Monet... This property at Petit-Gennevilliers, situated on the banks of the Seine, became for the painter, during the last few years of his existence, an inexhaustible source of motifs just as Giverny had been for Monet” (quoted in Pierre Wittmer, Caillebotte au jardin, Paris, 1990, p. 289, translated from the French).

Acquired from the artist circa 1893 by his illustrious dealer Ambroise Vollard, the present work was later signed by Martial Caillebotte, the artist's brother.