Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894) was a French artist and patron of art, a man thanks to whom the general public saw many paintings of the famous Impressionists, so his contribution to art is difficult to overestimate. By and large, Kaibott is a French Tretyakov, a collector of paintings, who gave the green light to many creations of Monet, Renoir, Degas, Berta Morisot. He was lucky enough to be born the son of a wealthy textile magnate, so he could never worry about money at all, and could do things he thought were really important and interesting - sailing, collecting paintings, painting and even engineering design.
Gustave Caibotte. Self-Portrait
The Kaibott family owned a huge luxury flat on the most prestigious Parisian street, for the summer moved to the estate, and when the head of the family Marcial Kaibott decided that property prices would rise, he bought several houses on Boulevard Haussmann. So the family's wealth only increased, and the basis of it was a monopoly on the supply of textiles to the French army. When Gustave was 26 years old his father died and he became the legal heir to the entire huge fortune.
Gustave Caibotte. Paris. A rainy day
In the same year he visited an Impressionist exhibition for the first time and was so impressed by what he saw that he made a will - and Kaibott was firmly convinced that he would die early, according to which he allocated an impressive sum (as much as necessary) to organise Impressionist exhibitions, which must include works by Degas, Renoir and Monet. He subsequently realised this idea and, fortunately, while he was still alive.
Edgar Degas. Prima ballerina on the stage. (Ballet Star)
Kaibott often bought Impressionist paintings, often to help artists in need. They were then no one needed, except Kaybotta and it came to ridiculous - he organised auctions he bought already owned paintings to somehow raise too low prices.
Pierre Renoir. Nude, sun effect
In 1879 Gustave moved with his brother Marcial to a flat on the Boulevard Haussmann, from the balcony of which he painted many remarkable paintings. Many events happened in their lives and most of them tragic - the death of their father, mother and younger brother, and the assumption of ownership of a huge inheritance. They were both fascinating workaholics, but Marcial Kaibott was more interested in music, was a composer and musician, and at the same time and photographer. They were young and wealthy, but they never threw parties with frivolous girls in their house; it was a place of rest, study and work.
Gustave Caibotte. Balcony, Boulevard Haussmann
Gustave, despite his vast fortune, did not want to spend his life in idleness. He studied often and for long periods of time, taking up a new hobby until he could call himself a professional in it.
Such was the case with boats and boating. For five years in a row he won at national sailing regattas, for the good he could afford to buy the best boats and replace ordinary sails with expensive silk ones, which were lighter. However, boat management required a lot of skill, and when the boats he had ceased to suit him, he developed his own special design, organised a small shipyard, where he and his assistants built 20 watercraft. The boats designed by Kaibott were so successful that they are still being made today.
Gustave Caibotte. The regatta in Argenteuil
Even such a not very masculine business as the cultivation of flowers Kaibott put on the level of industrial production. He built a huge greenhouse in Petit-Genevilliers, where he grew orchids with particular interest. Kaibott painted less often - boats, gardening and the post of mayor took up all his time. On it Kaybott sometimes had to deal with issues of repairing street lamps or paving pavements, but he solved them in his own style - simply paid all the necessary expenses from his own pocket.
Gustave Caibotte. Facade painters
But there were things and entertainments that he did not need at all: a law degree from the Sorbonne, studies at the Academy of Fine Arts and critical acclaim, an official marriage, flings with merry girls, bohemian partying, brothels and drinking. Indeed, Kaibott was a great original.
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author of the article Mikhail Fedorin
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