Cassatt and Caillebotte

Susan Comforting the Baby (1881) by Mary Cassatt and The Orange Trees (1878) by Gustave Caillebotte are two Impressionist paintings, which display many of the aspects Impressionists exhibited in their paintings. Impressionists were very fascinated with the effects of light on objects and less concerned with exact depiction of form. Impressionist painters also preferred to use the primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. They also used their complementary: purple, green, and orange. The artists achieved their cohesiveness of colors by placing brush strokes of them side by side producing a blended image at a distance. Both of these paintings demonstrate these styles used by impressionist painters. In their paintings both Cassatt and Caillebotte provide similar subjects to produce a simple and familiar scene for the audience. In The

In both of their paintings Caillebotte and Cassatt use the medium oil on canvas. Despite this the painters use different techniques for colors, brush strokes, and texture. Caillebotte complies with the impressionist standard of using the primary colors and their complementaries. Caillebotte uses a vast array of greens, reds, yellows, and blues. He also shows the effects of light on objects very well in his painting. The dark green of the trees and the cool tone of the blues under the shade demonstrates the dullness and lack of vibrancy of color when it is beyond the sun’s reach. To contrast this Caillebotte also shows colors that are exposed to intense light. To the left of the path there is a beautiful flower garden surrounded by lush green grass, which is made so from the bright reds, oranges, and yellows used to display the light’s ability to illuminate objects. On the contrary Cassatt does not predominately use the primary colors and her painting lacks the realistic effect of light hitting an object. She does use a few greens, blues, and yellows but she mainly prefers golds and browns. Perhaps this is her interpretation of light’s effect on objects or merely a depiction of the time of year this portrait was painted. Another difference between the two paintings is the clearness and sharpness of the painted portraits. In Cassatt’s painting she clearly uses much more sketchy brush strokes, which provides a less defined image for the audience. This is more consistent with the impressionist style of painting, which is not to be, concerned with the exact depiction of objects. On the other hand Caillebotte strays from standard impressionistic style and provides a more detailed painting. Although he does retain some sketchiness he demonstrates the detail with the individual leaves in the trees and gentle wrinkles in the man’s jacket. Caillebotte creates a significantly more detailed painting than Cassatt due to this less sket

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