Throughout the majority of Caillebotte’s paintings, there is an impressionist influence and they have modernity. Being from a wealthy family allowed Caillebotte to be progressive and paint to his liking. He is labeled as an impressionist, but throughout his work, he did not follow all the conventions of the impressionist. In his life, Caillebotte suffered enormous loss that left him feeling isolated and alone. This theme is represented in his paintings. They show scenes of isolation and tension with quiet suffering from those within. From people walking in Paris streets assumeably just passing from point A to point B without any care for the surroundings to workers suffering work and maximum effort while feeling isolated. This isolation is however depicted in a time where the rebuilding of Paris is happening and the modernity of actions by the subjects. As exampled by the “Nude on a Couch”, 1882, the figure of a nude woman slung out over a couch appears to be crying or suffering in some way. The placement of the arm over her breast I believe was an attempt to not be completely obscene. An argument can be made that this was a voyeuristic look at someone, where I would contend, that the woman is nude because Caillebotte wanted to show complete exposure. As if the being exposed reflected the complete unhidden suffering of being alone, even in the nice apartment/home on fine furniture. I see the fine furniture as a symbol that this woman is successful and even she still is isolated and alone in her modern, upper class surroundings. In other paintings, Caillebotte shows certain genders performing tasks and other duties that were thought of as only for a woman or man. He was pushing the envelope in the sense of what was known and accepted. His paintings depict the regular man and do not glorify any of the subjects leaving the absence of idealization. Caillebotte uses perspective to further add drama and tension to his works, as well as making sure he pointed out the modern lifestyle and what was expected and encountered by the modern man. He was more focused on changing the ideas and hearts of those who viewed his paintings. So much so that he hosted several impressionist shows and until his death in 1894. He pushed for the acceptance from the academy of paintings by other artists in the impressionist movement.

I believe that Caillebotte's paintings were a critique on the life of modern man. I believe he depicted most his subjects in their current situation and the hard work that all had to make to be valued in the society. I think that he suffered greatly and was having family issues and with the money he had, I think that he may have been pulled greatly by the societal leaders. This however had advantages as having money gave him influence and that helped him push forth modernity and impressionism. Even if it was only after his death, the fact that he pushed for the acceptance of others and their station in life, shows me that he is the definition of what we consider modernity.