Gustave Caillebotte retrospective in Martigny and his painting “The Europe Bridge”
The Fondation Pierre Gianadda in Martigny, Switzerland, is currently staging a retrospective of the undeservedly neglected Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte. At the very least, he may be remembered for his painting "The Floor Scrapers", with its men planing a parquet floor while sitting on the floor of a large room. Or for the same House Painters.
One of Caillebotte's best-known and most interesting works is called The Europe Bridge. The large canvas, almost two metres wide, depicts a genre scene on the Pont de l'Europe, seen from the rue de Vienne, with the rue de Saint-Pétersbourg in perspective. The foreground is large in scale: a dog runs, a man gazes at the station, a couple strolls decorously.
Shown in its day at the Third Impressionist Exhibition in 1877, the picture made a great impression on the public. It now belongs to the Petit Palais museum, and since the museum closed it has vanished from view.
