Happy Birthday Gustave Caillebotte!

Gustave Caillebotte circled in red in the foreground. Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1881. Oil on canvas, 51 ¼ x 69 1/8 inches. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Acquired 1923.

The National Gallery in London reminded us that it’s Gustave Caillebotte’s birthday today. An artist in his own right, Caillebotte was a good friend of Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The fellow artists were so close that Renoir painted a youthful portrait of Caillebotte in the foreground of his celebrated Luncheon of the Boating Party. Spot him above, sitting backwards in his chair and dressed in a flat-topped boater hat. He’s grouped with the actress Angèle and the Italian journalist Maggiolo.

Learn more about the personalities in Renoir’s painting in this Who’s Who in the Boating Party.