Still Life with Oysters 1881

Gustave Caillebotte, a 19th century French painter, made this oil painting, Still Life with Oysters, in an unknown year. The painting is a tableau of wealth. Oysters at this time in France were a luxury. A cut lemon, an uncorked bottle of wine, crystal glasses, and fine silverware complete the image of bourgeois domesticity. Caillebotte, independently wealthy, had the freedom to paint what he wanted without needing to sell his work to survive. Here, he focuses on the everyday life of a privileged class, and offers it up for aesthetic contemplation. But is there critique here? Does it celebrate wealth, or quietly question its value? To properly understand the painting, we might dig into the economic conditions of 19th century France, researching the oyster industry and its impact on both the wealthy and the working class. It is through this kind of work that we can understand art as part of a much wider social landscape.