A white severed calf's head is suspended from a hook in its nose at right, painted with blue undertones and pink and yellow highlights. At left is a severed ox tongue and mouth rendered in soft white, pinks, and reds, all against a blue-gray background.

Calf's Head and Ox Tongue

c. 1882

Gustave Caillebotte (French, 1848–1894)

France

Gustave Caillebotte may have been inspired by the butcher’s shop below his family home in Paris when he painted this bloody scene of animal parts ready for human consumption. Calf’s Head and Ox Tongue confronts viewers with objects that are visually unpleasant and yet rendered with highly decorative pastel colors and soft brushstrokes. Such still lifes are among Caillebotte’s most original compositions and stand in contrast to the attractive, highly marketable still lifes of his contemporaries Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Oil on canvas

Painting and Sculpture of Europe