Gustave Caillebotte and the Fashioning of Identity in Impressionist Paris

Once neglected, Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894), a painter associated with the French Impressionists, has become the subject of intense public interest and renewed scholarly debate. With a series of exhibitions showcasing his work, Caillebotte's enigmatic paintings have begun to exert an unexpected fascination for postmodern audiences and have become rich sites for interpretive debate. The essays which comprise this volume exempify this Caillebotte scholarship. They employ a variety of perspectives to examine the ways in which his art sheds light on the formation of individual class identities in Paris during the early years of the Third Republic - an era of transition marked by the burgeoning of capitalism and the instabilities of newly shifting gender roles in the modern world. Addressing a wide range of major paintings by Caillebotte, the contributors reveal the compound ways in which the artist encoded his images and the multiple interpretations to which these images are susceptible. Juxtaposed so as to complement and challenge on another, the essays are intended to build a provocative whole as they probe issues of spectatorship and authorial intention. The contributors - internationally known scholars and art professionals, including Michael Fried, Tamar Garb and Kirk Varnedoe - create an important theoretical framework for the discussion of Caillebotte's work.

Norma Broude is a professor of art history at American University. She has published many books, including Impressionism, a Feminist Reading and Edgar Degas. She was recently honored by the College Art Association for her outstanding contributions to the field, particularly in the areas of feminist art history and gender studies.