Gustave Caillebotte’s other paintings of boating include Oarsmen(1877) and Oarsman(1877-78) in a top hat. In these paintings Caillebotte gives a close up view of the rowing motion. The viewer is put in the boat with the rowers as a sort of companion. In Oarsmen the onlooker is put right in front of two rowers working seemingly pretty strenuously by the way their arms are flexed and their complete absorption into rowing. Both rowers’ hats are covering their faces for the most part as if to block out any distractions and focus completely on the 
rowing itself. The man in the back or bow of the boat is even looking out at the blade of the oar to concentrate on his technique. These men are completely inwardly focusing on the way they are moving the boat in unison. But what does this say about Caillebotte’s message in his perissoire paintings of loneliness? This painting shows a sense of camaraderie and togetherness by working together. The placement of the viewer, however, completely shuts him or her out. The tilted hats and the way that the viewer is facing the opposite way of the rowers and not actually in the direction that a participant in the boat would face makes the onlooker to the painting feel left out.
The same sort of exclusion happens in Oarsman in a Top Hat. The viewer seems to be placed in the boat with the rowers as if to be company to the man rowing. The man is dressed very nicely as if trying to impress 
the person he is rowing with. The simple action of turning his head slightly to his right makes the viewer seem completely left out of the setting. As shown by the boat in the background, there are other boats on the water and it is probable that the man is looking at someone else in a different boat. The slight angling of the head automatically makes the viewer feel uninvited. Despite these apparent feelings of camaraderie by placing the viewer inside the boat in such a teamwork oriented activity, Caillebotte manages to create a sense of detachment, just as he did in his perissoire paintings.
Oarsmen. Private Collection. 1887.
Oarsman in a Top Hat. Private Collection. 1877-78.