Caillebotte: A Window onto Modern Paris
A work of plunging architectural perspective, exacting detail, and vibrant lighting, Young Man at His Window represented the latest in modern urban realism when it debuted.
Shown at the 1876 Impressionist exhibition in Paris —Gustave Caillebotte's first public exhibition—the painting brilliantly dramatizes the act of looking, while also suggesting the gendered power dynamics involved.
Young Man at His Window (1876) by Gustave CaillebotteThe J. Paul Getty Museum
A young man in a dark suit stands at a large open window in a luxurious upper-story apartment.
The orientation of the cushiony red satin armchair in the right foreground suggests that he has been spending some time sitting at this window.
. . . but something has drawn him from his chair and fixed his attention . . .
. . . a lone woman in fashionable attire, about to cross the street.
The man’s view onto the city is proprietary. This corner of Paris presents a spectacle that seems to unfold specifically for him from the elevated viewpoint that his room affords.
The young man depicted is, in fact, Caillebotte’s younger brother René, and he is standing in the family’s newly built residence at the corner of the rue de Lisbonne and rue de Miromesnil—with a view of the boulevard Malesherbes beyond—in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.
The building survives and the view from René’s window remains much the same today, though the heavy stone balustrade has been replaced by a thinner metal one…
Rue Halévy, View from the Sixth Floor (1878) by Gustave CailllebotteMuseum Barberini
The Paris of Caillebotte’s day had been completely transformed by Hausmannization—the massive urban renovation program begun in the 1850s and spearheaded by Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, Prefect of the Seine under Emperor Napoléon III.
In his paintings Caillebotte would highlight the broad straight avenues and uniform apartment blocks that were defining features of Hausmann’s modern, rationalized city.
The corner of Paris shown in Young Man at His Window was very new when Caillebotte painted it, and he and his family ranked among the fashionable neighborhood’s wealthier inhabitants, their real-estate holdings, rental income, and investments giving them the status of rentiers.
It could be said that Caillebotte’s painting embodies the property-owning rentier’s perspective on the modern city.
Young Man at His Window (1876) by Gustave CaillebotteThe J. Paul Getty Museum
The young man’s privilege affords him visual mastery over the urban scene, but it also removes and isolates him from the life of the city. The painting may be about possession, but it also may suggest distinctly modern forms of ennui, detachment, and alienation.
The world of the street, brilliantly sunlit and animated by pedestrians and vehicles, sharply contrasts with the dark, shadowy interior.
Situated between the armchair and a heavy stone balustrade and framed by the curtained windows, he is physically constrained by the space.
Psychologically, however, he seems far away.
His pose conveys a certain restlessness; perhaps this is a young man longing to escape the stifling atmosphere of the bourgeois home.
As Caillebotte took pains to emphasize the physical and psychological distance between the young man and the female figure, there is an equally sense of disconnection between our position as viewers and the figure at the window, who is evidently unaware of our presence behind him.
We realize that the painting’s perspective, which so insistently frames the woman on the street below, in fact reflects our viewpoint.
Without a view of René’s face and eyes, we shouldn’t discount the possibility that he is focusing on nothing in particular, that his mind could simply be wandering.
The psychological impenetrability of the figure is part of the painting’s enduring fascination.
Edmond Duranty (1833–1880) Edmond Duranty (1833–1880) (1879) by Edmond Duranty|Edgar DegasThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
For Caillebotte and his contemporaries, the window motif was endlessly rich in possibilities. Critic Edmond Duranty could have been writing about Young Man at His Window when he observed:
“It is through the window that we communicate with the outside; the window is a frame that accompanies us constantly during the time we spend at home, and this time is considerable. The window frame [...] cuts off the external view in the most unexpected, most changeable way, giving us that endless variety and unexpectedness which is one of the great delights of reality.”
About the Artist
An ambitious work done near the outset of Caillebotte’s career, Young Man at His Window was one of several innovative paintings of modern urban life that established the artist’s reputation and caused a sensation at the Impressionist group’s independent exhibitions in the 1870s.
The son of a wealthy businessman, Caillebotte initially went to law school but quickly turned to painting, joining the studio of Léon Bonnat (seen here) and gaining admission to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
However, it was outside the artistic establishment that Caillebotte developed his first important professional relationships.
After Caillebotte's painting Floor Scrapers was refused by the official Salon in 1875, he abandoned a conventional career path and accepted an invitation to join the Impressionist group, having become friends with Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and other progressive artists.
His public debut was in 1876, when he presented Floor Scrapers withYoung Man at His Window and six other pictures in the second Impressionist exhibition.
His work attracted critical attention and marked the beginning of an impressive exhibition career, which saw him participating in five of the eight Impressionist exhibitions held between 1874 and 1886.
Caillebotte was not only a dominant exhibitor in the Impressionist group, but he was also a principal patron, promoter, and organizer.
The death of his father in 1874 had left him with a significant inheritance, which he promptly invested in his fellow artists, building what would become a legendary collection.
He bought works both by critically respected artists like Degas...
…and by artists, like Paul Cézanne, whose critical breakthrough was still many years away.
Caillebotte’s financial support extended beyond purchases of artwork. In one famous instance, he paid Monet's rent so that Monet could concentrate on a series of paintings of the Gare Saint-Lazare.
One of which Caillebotte also purchased for his collection.
Paris Street; Rainy Day (1877) by Gustave Caillebotte (French, 1848–1894)The Art Institute of Chicago
The second half of the 1870s was arguably the most creative period of Caillebotte’s career. During this time he painted his most celebrated pictures, including The Pont de l’Europe (1876; Musée du Petit Palais, Geneva) and Paris Street; Rainy Day (1877; Art Institute of Chicago)
In the 1880s, as Caillebotte became heavily involved in sailing, horticulture, and other pursuits, he started to paint less frequently.
In 1894, at the age of 45, he died suddenly, possibly of a stroke, at his property in Petit Gennevilliers, to the west of Paris along the Seine.
Following his last will and testament, Caillebotte’s collection of his friends’ paintings was bequeathed to the French state. Today it forms the nucleus of the Impressionist holdings at the Musée d'Orsay and includes many now-famous masterpieces.
© 2025 The J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles
Additional Resources:
Framing Young Man at His Window: A Closer Look
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