Self portrait

Gustave Caillebotte (August 19, 1848 - February 21, 1894), was a French painter and supporter of the Impressionist movement in art.

Caillebotte's painting style seems to belong to the school of realism, although he helped organize the first Impressionist painting exhibition and was himself an enthusiastic collector of Impressionist works. Caillebotte inherited a sizable fortune after his father's death in 1874, which aided in his patronage.

Caillebotte's painting themes were catholic. For example, he painted portraits and interior scenes, urban life, still lifes, and landscapes and seascapes. For many years, Caillebotte's reputation as a painter was superseded by his reputation as a supporter of the art. However, art historians are now re-evaluating his contribution to the field. He married late - two years before he died- to Emilie Schlauch.

Gustave Caillebotte died in 1894 of pulmonary congestion and was interred in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France. In his will, Caillebotte donated his entire collection to the French government. Forty of his works now hang in the Musee d'Orsay.

Caillebotte's, "L'Homme au balcon, boulevard Haussmann," painted in 1880, was sold for more than US$14.3 million in 2000.