Modernity and Masculinity in 19th Century France

        There are some strong differences between true impressionist art and the work of Caillebotte. Yet there is a similar quality to his work and the work of impressionists. I think you can really tell between the painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir called “Moulin De La Galette” and the painting called “Paris Street: A Rainy Day” by Gustave Caillebotte.

            We haven’t talked much about the painting “Moulin De La Galette” but you can see the true characteristics of impressionist paintings. You can see a great deal of bright colors, the importance of lighting, and the thick brushstrokes. The first thing I notice in this painting is the lighting you can tell that Pierre-Auguste Renoir was paying strong attention to the lighting of this scene. In this painting there is so much energy throughout it. You see all these people and each are doing different things, some are dancing some are just having conversations with each other. What helps to create energy in this painting is the use of the bright colors of the sunlight shining through the trees. Pierre-Auguste Renoir used large thick brushstrokes to create this painting. You can tell when you look at the peoples clothing and their faces. The people’s faces are somewhat clear but yet they are somewhat unrecognizable.

            Some of the impressionist characteristics are seen in the painting “Paris Street: A Rainy Day”.  When you first look at this painting you see that it almost looks like a photograph. You see the bourgeoisie dressed in their finest clothes celebrating the modern life. When you look at the painting you see widen boulevards and lights are put in the streets, which is the updated modern city. This outdoor updated modern city worked well for the impressionist. In the painting “Moulin De La Galette” you see a great importance with the lighting. But in “Paris Street: A Rainy Day” there is not a keen study of the lighting, no scientific observation of color. However there is some sense of lighting because you can see shadows of the people and the lights casted on the puddles in the streets. Which fits with the impressionist. This painting is much more smooth and polished looked than other impressionist paintings. There is not that sketch like quality because the brushstrokes are more refined. You can clearly see the people’s faces in this painting verse the “Moulin De La Galette”.  In Caillebotte painting you can see that the scene is much more calm and the lighting is dim so there is less energy though the painting. Plus the widen boulevards add to the calmness of this painting because it creates that sense of isolation. This painting shows that modern life can lead to more isolation because you loose the interaction with people due to more machines and larger scale of productions. You can notice a Sense of loss and isolation in Caillebotte’s paintings especially paintings after he experiences death within his family.

            Both paintings do deal with the lighting in different ways but impressionist accepted both. However, Caillebotte doesn’t quite fit into this movement. Caillebotte’s paintings are much more refined because he doesn’t use bright colors, his brushstrokes are not as thick and you can clearly see the modernity in his work. I think the “Moulin De La Galette” shows the true impressionist.