Yerres, France —It’s one of those hidden gems of the Greater Paris region tucked away in a greenery-filled corner south of the French capital and just a 20-minute, four stop train ride from the Gare de Lyon in central Paris. The Maison Caillebotte welcomes visitors to its gardens, exhibition spaces and to the Casin, a great estate house which once belonged to the Caillebotte family and offered inspiration to its most illustrious member, the world-renowned painter Gustave Caillebotte who was both a part of and a patron of the Impressionist movement. The house has been restored to its 19th century finery by the small and lovely city of Yerres and opened to the public in 2017. By 2021, the public had selected it as their preferred monument in the Greater Paris region. The home and English garden filled with follies offers a look into the life and lifestyle of a French upper middle class family in the latter half of the 19th century, the Belle Epoque, and a great artist who was also a collector, keen sailor and lawyer. 

But that’s not all. The house has been refurbished with luxurious furnishings of the period when the Caillebotte family lived there from 1860 until 1879 purchased with donations from the friends of Caillebotte association. The family had plenty of leisure activities, including hunting, playing pool and boating and other leisure activities on the Yerres, a small river that borders on the property and which can be seen in Gustave Caillebotte’s paintings. The follies in the expansive park, which is free of charge, include a Swiss Chalet, now an excellent restaurant serving locally sourced products, an Orangerie which in the winter housed the orange trees of the park, many of which figure in Caillebotte’s paintings, a consecrated chapel, an aviary which still today houses ornamental birds,  a superb grotto-inspired ice-house, a Japanese garden bench with covered seating (these were introduced into France in 1867 at the World’s Fair) a superb market garden  and an ornamental farm where exceptional temporary exhibitions are housed.

The Caillebotte property is currently hosting an exhibition devoted to Figurative Art in the Ornamental Farm (Ferme Ornée) and the Orangerie showcasing modern and contemporary artists, both confirmed and emerging. Entitled Figuration, an Art of Today, the show brings together 47 artists from 1950 to the present underscoring the hallmarks of the movement like strokes and facial expressions. The opening branch of the show pays tribute to the great American painter Andrew Wyeth 1917-2009 who is probably best known for his painting, Christina’s World and who is an artist little known in France. The rhododendron-filled portraits of Sam Szafran (1934-2019) are on the agenda as well. The artists on exhibit worked in myriad mediums like the pastels of Pierre Skira (born 1938) and the contemporary engravings of five Dutch artists. The art critic Guy Boyer curated the exhibition. 

Meanwhile in the Orangerie a contemporary exhibition presents the new trends in the French figurative movement today celebrating 12 young artists — six men and six women —exposed three at a time with the exhibition being renewed every six weeks during the duration of the Figuration show in the Ornamental Farm. There are the realistic medieval inspired works of Thibaut Huchard (born 1987), the dream-like landscapes of Vanessa Fanuelle and the highly realistic paintings of Lucile Piketty.

The Caillebotte property offers a splendid day out filled with art and leisure activities. The home, park and exhibition spaces are open from March 15th through November 15th. You can purchase a ticket for the exhibitions and the Caillebotte home, Le Casin, and the park is free of charge. You can even get into Caillebotte leisure activities and rent a small boat, until the end of October, to go boating on the Yerres like the Caillebotte family did over 150 years ago. We can also highly recommend the restaurant on the premises. The current temporary exhibition is on until October 22nd. For the European Heritage Days on September 16th and 17th, one free ticket is offered for one purchased ticket and special activities are organized in the home and gardens. Opening days and times for the various activities  change throughout the year so check the website for details. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette. https://www.maisoncaillebotte.fr/