Gustave Caillebotte

Arthur M. Sackler Collections, USA (sale: Sotheby's, New York, 5th November 2009, lot 119)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

In very good condition. The canvas is unlined. There is a faint horizontal stretcher bar mark near the upper edge. A pin dot size spot of loss due to prior frame abrasion near lower right corner. When viewed under ultraviolet light:: a few small spots of inpainting at upper right corner, otherwise fine. Work is in very good condition overall.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Along with the rest of western Europe in the 19th Century, France enjoyed a period of prosperity due to advances in industry, technology, wages and standards of living. Those who could afford it moved to once-rural areas that were now quickly and easily accessible from Paris by train. With their increased earnings, a leisure class of boaters and Sunday travellers also emerged in these suburbs. 

Argenteuil, the scene of the present work was a favourite amongst the Impressionists. There they delighted in depicting the symbols of progress that were emerging across the landscape. The present work documents one such radical transformation of the French countryside in the form of the railway viaduct on the left of the composition.

In exploring this theme in the present work Caillebotte follows in the footsteps of Claude Monet who had lived and worked for some years in Argenteuil. Anne Distel and Rodolphe Rapetti write of the interplay between the Argenteuil works of Caillebotte and Monet, 'we know that Monet exhibited several Argenteuil canvases from 1876 onward, and that Caillebotte acquired one of them. It is certain that he began to frequent Argenteuil and Petit Gennevilliers on a regular basis only after Monet's departure, in early 1878. But it is also probable that Caillebotte saw the banks of the Seine through Monet's eyes and that, his boating activities aside, this was one of the reason's the site interested him' (Anne Distel & Rodolphe Rapetti, Gustave Caillebotte, Urban Impressionist (exhibition catalogue), Paris, 1994, p. 268).