Taylor Carson

The Floor Scrapers is one of Caillebotte’s most well known works, and it’s a great example of how he, like Millet, uses his art to highlight the working class, although here we see urban workers in Paris rather than in a rural field. This work is particularly interesting in that the scene is set in a clearly upscale apartment. The wallpapering is ornate and stylish, and out the back window one can see the iron railing of a Haussmann-style balcony. However, the room is not the focus and only serves as a backdrop for the subject: the floor scrapers. Three men shown in the middle of their work. Here, their normally unseen labor is given center stage, and Caillebotte has created a scene that celebrates the type of skills most upper-class Parisians would have considered to be lowly work.

The Europe Bridge is another work that lends from Caillebotte’s interest in photography. This work shows a scene of a Paris bridge with many people leisurely strolling along. Several Haussmann apartments can be seen in the background, and most of the people are wearing clothing typical of the middle and upper-class. The idle nature of the left side of the painting is strongly contrasted by the dominant metal structure on the right, which is part of the bridge the scene is set on. While Caillebotte’s use of perspective and framing here are strongly inspired by photography, this painting also serves as another example of how Caillebotte’s work depicted the reality of 1870s Paris. During this time the Industrial Revolution was well under way, causing a massive increase in industrial infrastructure like the railways under the bridge, which can also be partially seen. The upgrades of Haussmann Paris allowed for many artists to set their works in idyllic urban parks and along stretches of boulevards, creating an image of a city that was untouched by the less attractive aspects of modernization. The Europe Bridge was a true representation of Paris as the economic center that it was.

Another one of Caillebotte’s more well known works is Paris Street; Rainy Day, another Parisian urban scene. This work is one of Caillebotte’s more Realist-style paintings, and was, like many of his works, inspired by photographic perspectives. In fact, Paris Street; Rainy Day is just one example of Caillebotte’s flickering art style, as he wavered throughout his career between more Impressionistic and Realistic styles. Despite the variations in technique, his subjects largely stayed the same, and here we have yet another scene of Paris that shows the reality of the city. Although most of the image is dominated by the middle-class people walking along the street, in the background there are several working class people who are shown as they were: a normal part of Parisian life. The man carrying a ladder and the maid under a doorway are not the main subjects of this work, nor are they particularly noticeable. But their inclusion shows that Caillebotte’s desire to reflect the reality of the world transcends through artistic styles and touches many of his works.