The French painter Gustave Caillebotte has suffered more than most from the fact that he wasn't Monet, Manet, or Renoir. As one of the second-ranking Impressionists, he has long been in the shadow of these more famous names with which his career is associated.
Also, there is a question mark over just how "impressionistic" his work is. Compared to the experimental work of Monet or the soft-focus brushwork of Renoir, Caillebotte's paintings can seem like a reversion to realism.
But in the social and organizational life of the Impressionists, who grouped together to reject the authority of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, Caillebotte played an important part, not least because of his wealthy background.