This painting presents a young man in a dark suit standing at a large open window in a well-appointed upper-story apartment. With his back to the viewer, his feet planted firmly apart and hands in his pockets, he looks out at a sun-drenched street scene tightly framed by tall, uniform apartment blocks. Beneath him, a lone woman in fashionable attire is about to cross the street, and several horse-drawn carriages complete the urban tableau.
When Caillebotte first exhibited the painting, he presented it not as a portrait but as a genre scene, with the title Jeune homme à sa fenêtre (Young Man at His Window). For his model, Caillebotte used his brother René and the family’s newly-built apartment building at the corner of the rue de Lisbonne and rue de Miromesnil in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. This expensive and fashionable quarter had been completely transformed by the urban renewal project initiated by Baron Haussmann, prefect of the Seine, and by real-estate speculation, in which Caillebotte’s recently deceased father Martial had been a major participant. It is this distinctly modern and bourgeois Paris that Caillebotte's painting evokes.Caillebotte exhibited the picture to acclaim at the 2nd Impressionist exhibition in 1876, when he was just twenty-seven years old. It was his public debut as a painter, and among his submissions this painting received the most critical attention, after his famous Floor Scrapers (Musée d’Orsay, Paris). The 1876 exhibition prompted critic and novelist Edmond Duranty to write his landmark essay, “The New Painting,” which strongly advocated for the realist depiction of modern urban life. Though he doesn't name any artists, it is clear that Caillebotte's work was among his primary models.
We make each of our prints one at a time—just for you.
Our Giclée Prints are printed here in Switzerland, one at a time, on heavy matte German art paper using the finest 12-color Canon archival inks. Some images are panoramic or tall and narrow—please select the 18" x 36" format for these.
Our Premium Museum Frame in Black is custom-made in Lugano, Switzerland, using natural wood moulding in a matte black satin finish. Each includes thick, hand-cut white mat boards and Plexiglass glazing. We tailor and print each image to fit its specific ratio and dimensions within our custom-made frames. The hand-cut mats are extra thick. Each bespoke museum frame ships in a custom box. Rush shipping is available for projects with tight deadlines—this is our specialty, and you will not be disappointed.
Our Antiqued Museum Frame in Gold is a high-quality frame made of solid wood, featuring traditional 19th-century cast plaster moulded details and closed corners. These frames are works of art in themselves, each with a unique patina. The hand-rubbed corners and gold finish evoke the elegance of times past. Your selected image is printed on German art paper with archival inks and mounted to quality art board within the frame. Plexiglass is added for print protection and the back is covered with Kraft paper and a hanger is supplied ready to hang.
Our Stretched Canvas prints are hand-stretched over 1.25" thick pine bars and printed with archival inks on a cotton-poly matte finish canvas. These are best-in-industry Swiss-quality canvases, hand-coated for UV protection.
Wall Murals are printed on a matte-finish, self-adhesive poly/fabric material that mounts easily and is ideal for smooth wall surfaces.
Our Note Cards are amazing—each is printed individually on 100% cotton art paper, comes with a kraft envelope, and is individually sleeved. (Image is scaled to fit the format.)
All of our images are digitized from the original negative or print and printed by our master printer to museum standards.
Questions? Please email service@archivea.com or call/text +41 79 265 8891.
Artwork in this collection is from The J. Paul Getty Museum. Reproduction rights are reserved by the copyright owner and used under license by Archivea GmbH.
