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Lot #406
Gustave Caillebotte Autograph Letter Signed

A meal with Monet: "Will our dinner still happen on July 7? Where is Renoir?"

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Estimate: $2000+
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Description

A meal with Monet: "Will our dinner still happen on July 7? Where is Renoir?"

French painter (1848-1894) who was a member and patron of the Impressionists, although he painted in a more realistic manner than many others in the group. Caillebotte was noted for his early interest in photography as an art form. ALS in French, signed "G. Caillebotte," one page both sides, 4 x 6, Petit Gennevilliers (Seine) letterhead, June 24, 1887. Handwritten letter to his friend and fellow artist, the great impressionist painter Claude Monet, in full (translated): "I haven't been to Paris since the wedding of Martial but I have just written to know if your painting is back. I suppose that everything happened as it should. Yes, we have now superb weather and I have many things in the works but one cannot always do what he wants. Nevertheless if the weather continues I do hope that I will be able to produce something of everything that is in the works. Will our dinner still happen on July 7? Where is Renoir?" Caillebotte adds a short postscript: "I suppose you are reading La Terre." In fine condition. A fabulous letter that finds Caillebotte attempting to arrange a formidable artist dinner with the likes of Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Also of note is Caillebotte's mention of La Terre, an 1887 novel by influential French writer Emile Zola, who was famously painted by modernist painter and mutual acquaintance Edouard Manet.

Caillebotte's sizable allowance, along with the inheritance he received after the death of his father in 1874 and his mother in 1878, allowed him to paint without the pressure to sell his work. It also allowed him to help fund Impressionist exhibitions and support his fellow artists and friends-Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, and Camille Pissarro among others-by purchasing their works and, at least in the case of Monet, paying the rent for their studios. Caillebotte bought his first Monet in 1875 and was especially helpful to that artist's career and financial survival.

Auction Info

  • Auction Title: Fine Autograph and Artifacts
  • Dates: #639 - Ended July 13, 2022





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