Young Man at his Window- 1875

Here we see the same things as the previous except the feeling of being in a cell is even more pronounced. The railing serves as bars of the cell, and the man is trapped in the walled city. Caillebotte successfully evokes an extremely depersonalized view of the city in these three paintings. The figures in them seem disaffected, or in the last two their faces are away from us, faceless figures in a faceless city. In all three paintings we see the bourgeoisie, and they look downright bored. A class which is supposed to reap the benefits of a new society is seen here as a class of automatons. Hausmannization has stripped them of their city, of their opportunity and has replaced it with beautifully monotonous architecture. Haussman himself noted that "the Capital of the Empire, the greater part of the bourgeoisie and almost all the aristocracy were hostile" to his plans (Benjamin 127). The stage was set for a new kind of outlet, and this is where the cabaret enters the picture.

 

This image can be found easily from a Google image search for Caillebotte.

 

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