Sundance in Paris
48" x 60"
1985
Collection of Axel Rohm
Gustave Caillebotte's contribution to 19th century French painting was twofold. Increasingly recognized as a talented painter whose promise was cut short by premature death, he is best known as a benefactor of his Impressionist friends. His generous bequest of their work to France is now one of the glories of the Musee d'Orsay. His generosity extended even to leaving a large open space in the lower left corner of one of his few acknowledged masterpieces. An amorous couple have waltzed in from a Renoir painting, so absorbed in each other that they have yet to realize the music is no longer playing, it's daylight, it's raining, and they're dancing on cobblestones. The respectable couple on the right now have something to look at, perhaps with nostalgia for their own distant, romantic younger selves.
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