In a Cafe by Gustave Caillebotte

In a Café (1880) was one of Gustave Caillebotte's contributions to the fifth Impressionist exhibition. Without Caillebotte's financial support, the Impressionist exhibitions might not have happened. In his art, he continued to explore the modern-life subject, often enhancing the sense of immediacy in his compositions by using reflections in mirrors to extend the illusion of space beyond the painting's frame.

Gustave Caillebotte's In a Café is an oil on canvas (61 x 45-1/4 inches), which belongs to Musee des Beaux-Arts, Rouen, France.

For more on Impressionist paintings, artists, and art history, see:

• Impressionism
• Vincent van Gogh
• Claude Monet

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Debra N. Mancoff, Ph.D., is an art historian and lecturer and the author of numerous books on nineteenth-century European and American paintings. She is a scholar in residence at the Newberry Library and an adjunct associate professor and adjunct lecturer at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.