A place of choice in the gallery of the Impressionists, near the Bal du moulin de la Galette de Renoir and among works by Monet and Sisley. Among these prestigious neighbors, Part of Boat, one of the masterpieces of Gustave Caillebotte and the history of Impressionism, made a remarkable entry, greeted by Rima Abdul Malak, Minister of Culture, in the national collections, where his home port will be the Musée d'Orsay before a roaming all over France.
A quasi-cinematic look at the representation of «modern life»
Produced by the artist around 1877-1879, this work – sometimes called Top hat boater – belongs to a group of about ten paintings and pastels on a particularly emblematic theme of the impressionists: the representation of «modern life» and the new leisure of the urban bourgeoisie. « Caillebotte was himself fond of water sports, he owned no less than thirty-two boats and had even drawn the plans of twenty others », explains Christophe Leribault, president of the Orsay and Orangerie museums - Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.
Monet, Renoir, and Manet were already interested in canoeing, and had also depicted such scenes in the 1870s. “ But this intimate and passionate knowledge of Caillebotte for his subject leads him to focus on this figure of the rower in full effort in an extraordinarily cinematic close-up, continues Christophe Leribault. It changes our place as spectators, our experience that becomes frontal and immersive. Everything happens as if we were facing the rower, literally embarked with him. Everything in this painting is innovative, bold: this close framing, this instant capture. »
This acquisition deepens understanding of Caillebotte’s work
Caillebotte, artist and donor
This masterpiece thus enriches the national collections, which up to now had only eleven paintings and three pastels by Caillebotte. This is little, considering the considerable influence of the artist, both as a painter and as a patron. At the time of his father’s death he had indeed inherited a considerable fortune which enabled him to support his impressionist friends and to assemble an exceptional set of works.
In his will, Gustave Caillebotte proposed to bequeath this rich collection to the Musée du Luxembourg, antechamber of the Louvre at the time, whose collections were subsequently assigned to the Musée d'Orsay. « It is a founding gesture that led the other collectors to do the same in the first half of the XXe century, recalls Rima Abdul Malak, the Minister of Culture. It is to these great gifts that we owe the greatest impressionist collections in the world today in our French museums. » Boat trip joined Les raboteurs de parquet, donated by the artist’s brother to compensate for the lack of works by Gustave Caillebotte in the legacy. « This acquisition deepens the understanding of his work. I am happy that the Musée d'Orsay can now make us take the measure of Caillebotte so that it is fully recognized for what it is: one of the greatest French painters », says Christophe Leribault.
A national treasure acquired through patronage
The acquisition of this table is ' a beautiful victory celebrated today Held until now in private hands by the artist’s descendants, the work was indeed coveted. “ France produces and exports the finest impressionist works. It is therefore not surprising that the largest museums of the world compete to attract the most beautiful works and those of Gustave Caillebotte ," continued Rima Abdul Malak. "With this acquisition, Boat trip remains on French territory, becoming, according to the minister, “ one of the flagships of the national collections ».
The acquisition was made possible by the «National Treasures» scheme and the refusal to authorize the export of the work because of its major interest for the national heritage. This status was conferred in January 2020 on Boat trip, the date from which the State had thirty months to purchase the painting. He then requested the contribution of the LVMH Group. « Today we are happy that this patronage allows one of the last masterpieces of impressionism still in private hands to remain in France and to enrich the collections of the Musée d'Orsay ” adds Jean-Paul Claverie, advisor to Bernard Arnault, LVMH’s President and CEO.
Set up with the law of 4 January 2002 on museums in France, this arrangement, which makes it possible to promote the acquisition of major works by the State and for a public collection, entitles to a 90% corporate tax reduction, up to a limit of 50% of the tax due.
A Caillebotte that will sail from town to town
The year 2024 will mark a double anniversary: the 130 years of Caillebotte’s death and the legacy of his collection to the State as well as the 150 years of Impressionism. Thus, a national celebration around this masterpiece will be organized at the request of the Minister of Culture.
First of all, Boat trip will be presented in a special exhibition within the gallery dedicated to Impressionism at the Musée d'Orsay. It will then be exhibited on the streets in several establishments throughout the country so that it can be seen by the widest possible audience.
The work will then return to Orsay in the fall of 2024 for a major exhibition Caillebotte, with exceptional loans from major American museums such as the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago, which owns among others Rue de Paris, rainy weather.
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