A major Gustave Caillebotte survey exhibition, originally titled *Gustave Caillebotte: Painting Men* (in French, *Caillebotte: Peindre Les Hommes*), has opened at the Art Institute of Chicago with a revised title: *Gustave Caillebotte: Painting His World*. The change was made after an internal focus group found the original title too narrow, and before the show even debuted in Paris. The exhibition, co-curated by Gloria Groom (AIC), Paul Perrin (Musée d’Orsay), and Scott Allan (Getty), explores Caillebotte’s preference for male subjects—such as rowers, soldiers, and card players—without asserting that the artist had same-sex relationships. It previously sparked controversy in France, where critics accused the curators of imposing an American-influenced, reductive queer reading on the artist.
This title change matters because it highlights how cultural context and local sensitivities shape the reception of art historical scholarship. In Paris, the show was met with vehement criticism for allegedly queering Caillebotte, while in Los Angeles it was praised for its subtle exploration of homosociality. The Chicago iteration, with its more neutral title, may avoid similar backlash, but the underlying curatorial argument remains the same. The episode underscores ongoing tensions between European and American approaches to gender and sexuality in art history, and the power of institutional framing to influence public perception.