Portrait of the Bookseller E.J Fontaine

A member of the yachting club Cercle de la Voile in Paris, bookseller Emile Fontaine shared with Caillebotte an enthusiasm for boating.

Both men were also neighbours, with Fontaine's bookshop lying just across the street from the artist's apartment on the boulevard Haussmann.

Caillebotte depicted his friend in his study, surrounded by his library. Pipe in mouth and pen in hand, Fontaine is seen poring myopically over his books, oblivious to the painter. His slightly awkward pose and meticulous gestures convey a sense of painstaking concentration, suggesting Fontaine might be absorbed in sorting his accounts rather than engaged in an intellectual activity.

Caillebotte would give him the finished work as a gift.