Patron and Collector
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 (including 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 1876 and was especially helpful to that artist's career and financial survival. He was precise in his sponsorship; notably absent are works by Georges Seurat and Paul Gauguin, or any of the Symbolists. In 1890 he played a major role in assisting Claude Monet in organizing a public subscription and in persuading the French state to purchase Edouard Manet's 1863 Olympia.
Read more about this topic: Gustave Caillebotte
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