COVER N. 274 - FRANCE

Postmark: Maison Caillebote - Yerres  Essonne  91 Yerres 1er Jour - 23.06.2023 

Posted on the 23rd June; Received on the 3rd July 2023

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Another great first day cover from France.  Thank you so much Roland! 

I'm happy to report that the protective plastic cover did its job perfectly and the cover looks absolutely pristine, as you can see.

The first thing I noticed the moment I took the envelope out of my letterbox is that it is signed by Geneviève Marot, who I immediately suspected and later confirmed, is the artist responsible for the creation of the stamp and the postmark. 

Covers signed by the stamp authors are a really nice touch and I truly appreciate the extra mile Roland went to make sure I'd get this.

Now on to the stamp itself.

I have to confess that Gustave Caillebotte is not a name that rings any bell in my ROM cells. so I googled it, of course.

I also have to confess that after googling it, I'm even more ashamed to say so, because from what I saw, Monsieur Caillebote was truly a damn fine impressionist, even if his paintings appear much more realistic that the usual impressionist ... impressions, so to speak 😀.

That being said, I probably have  crossed his path in one of the fine arts museums I so much love to visit, but I really can't remember having ever seen one of his beautiful paintings.

Gustave Caillebotte was born in 1848 and died in 1894 and further to his importance both as a painter and a patron of the impressionists, he also had a plethora of other interests ranging from boat design and gardening to... philately.

In fact, he and his brother, Martial, started a stamp collection when stamps were still in their first generation - (the penny black entered service in 1840)  and over the years they must have reunited an awfully good lot of stamps because according to the Maison Caillebote's website, when the collection was sold, in 1887, to an English collector, who would later donate it to the British Museum, the price paid equalled 5 Million Euros in 2011 prices... that's quite a lot of stamps if I may say so....

The main theme of the stamp is not Caillebote the painter and collector, though, but Caillbote, the House.

What is now known as the Caillebote House is part of an estate located in what were the domains of  the Seigneurs d'Yerres, on the 16th century. The house  itself might date back to those times, having been refurbished and renovated over the years by its successive owners. In 1830, it become the property of  well known Chef, by the name of Pierre Frédéric Borrel, who gave it the neo-classical  aura it exhibits today.

Following the bankruptcy of his fabled Parisian restaurant -  le Rocher de Cancale - Borrel sold the full estate,  which would later be bought by the father of Gustave Caillebote, in 1860.

The painter would live in this house up until 1879, when, following his mother's death in 1878, the estate was again sold, Gustave going to live to Paris.

The estate would be bought and sold a couple of times until in 1973 it came under the property of the city of Yerres and from 1995 the city would renovate the house with a view to bringing it to its full ancient glory, and also transforming it into the art centre for contemporary art it is today.

The simple yet beautiful stamp, issued on 23JUN2023, llustrated with  a line drawing of the House Cailebote in blue and gold legends identifying the  subject - Maison Caillebote - and its location - Yerres, Essone - was created by Geneviève Marot, whose signature, as I mentioned above, can be seen on the left upper corner of the cover.