The Critique of Modernity

            Modernity toke forth as the impressionists’ painters painted the recurring theme of the bourgeoisie and their daily activities. Caillebotte was one of those painters that pictured the lives of the middle class. He was a wealthy patron of the arts, that felt the Academy of Arts was lacking in new art. Caillebotte frequently bought works from his impressionist friends and amassed a large collection that would be later donated to the state of France. Besides his wealth and obvious affection for the liberal arts, Caillebotte was a tortured soul. Having survived the loss of three family members in four years Caillebotte turned to painting and hobbies to cope with the loss of his family. With these feelings of depression and loss, Caillebotte changed his artistic style to not be as easily recognizable as his fellow impressionist painters. At first his paintings are looked upon with pleasant looks. His paintings picture the lives of the bourgeoisie going about their daily lives and the mood seems to be one of calm, but on a closer examination some elements of his design point toward other ideas of modernity. Not one of the celebrations of life, but of the loneliness and separation of modern life. Caillebotte conveys this well in his painting Le pont de l'Europe.

            In the painting a scene is shown of people walking by a steel or iron rail way. By this time the industrial revolution had begun and factories and urban cities were a manifestation of the industrialization. Mass production was brought forth as the new means of production and many laborers saw their skilled job turned over to a machine that could perform more efficiently and with little to no expense. From this many people saw less interaction from others as machines were now taking up the position their neighbor once did. Instead of a reliance on humans, people were relying more on machines to satisfy their desires and needs. Caillebotte conveyed this feeling through the imagery of the train railway. The railway dominates the frame, not only in size but in the use of low key colors. The man leaning on the railway enforces the feeling of loneliness and desire to be needed.

            Another element that seems to point towards a critique of life is the use of space. Caillebotte painting uses a deep sense of space, but Caillebotte fails to fill the space. The distance between the figures and the objects around them seem to be far from each other, giving off a feeling of distance and separateness. The man and woman in the middle ground who seem to be walking together are in a distance that questions if their relationship is marital or even intimate. The man in the top hat is far enough ahead to suggest that he may be turning his attention to the woman behind him for other reasons. The whole painting seems to exhume this type of feeling, that there is no intimate relationship with anything. People become as mechanized as the machine that is created to help them. There is no look for intimacy or friendship, but to how one can gain from the other. This is the feeling I get from the bourgeoisie, the less successful man on the right though is slumped and looks like in deep thought. He conveys this mood that he is not looking for gain in the material world, but in the emotional one.

            Although very ambiguous, the dog in the painting can also be used as a critique of modern life. At the time the bourgeoisie were in hysteria of fear over the rabies disease. The bourgeoisie were given information from medical documents, newspapers, and from friends about the dangers of rabies. From this a phobia developed and many of the bourgeoisies blamed the working class for the spread of the disease. I believe that Caillebotte was trying to convey the social issues that surrounded the middle class. All these elements are tied together to enforce the critique of modern life by the use of the color palette. The color palette is very static, it seems without feeling and raises the mood of loneliness.