Portrait of a Man

Albert Courtier, painted in the fourth-floor apartment at 31 boulevard Haussmann that Caillebotte shared with his brother Martial. That apartment and its balcony are the setting for a whole run of his paintings of men looking out over Paris.

Courtier was Caillebotte's notary and a lifelong friend — he sat for him several times, owned four of his paintings, and made him godfather to his eldest daughter. The unguarded look on his face is the point.