How to Pronounce the Names of These Famous Artists

And why it matters to say names correctly

Self-portrait with Grey Felt Hat (1887) by Vincent van Gogh. Oil on canvas. 44 × 37.5 cm. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Image source Wikimedia Commons

How important are names? Or more to the point, how important is our ability to pronounce them correctly?

For me, learning to get my tongue around the pronunciation of an artist’s name has made all the difference. Let me give an example…

Anybody who has been to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris will know what a substantial collection of Impressionist paintings they have on their walls.

One of the most impressive, thanks to its vivid lighting and great size (it’s nearly a metre-and-a-half wide) is Gustave Caillebotte’s Les Raboteurs de parquet. Painted in 1875, this image shows three workers on their hands and knees, scraping a wooden floor in a well-to-do Paris apartment. The English name for the painting is “The Floor Planers” or else “The Floor Scrapers”.

Les Raboteurs de Parquet or ‘The Floor Planers’ (1875) by Gustave Caillebotte. Oil on canvas. 102 × 147 cm. Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France. Image source Wikimedia Commons

For me, the painting has always stood out. And yet, due to the difficulty of pronouncing the artist’s name — Gustave Caillebotte — for a long time I failed to register the painting as part of the Impressionist tradition.