Paris Street; Rainy Day
Encyclopedia
Paris Street; Rainy Day (also known as Paris: A Rainy Day) is a large 1877 oil painting by the French artist Gustave Caillebotte
. The piece depicts the Place de Dublin, an intersection near the Gare Saint-Lazare
, a railroad station in north Paris. One of Caillebotte's best known works, it debuted at the Third Impressionist
Exhibition of 1877 and is currently owned by the Art Institute of Chicago
. Art Institute curator Gloria Groom described the piece as "the great picture of urban life in the late 19th century."
Caillebotte's interest in photography is evident in the painting. The figures in the foreground appear slightly "out of focus", those in the mid-distance (the carriage and the pedestrians in the middle of the intersection) have sharp edges, and then the background becomes progressively indistinct.
Gustave Caillebotte
Gustave Caillebotte was a French painter, member and patron of the group of artists known as Impressionists, though he painted in a much more realistic manner than many other artists in the group...
. The piece depicts the Place de Dublin, an intersection near the Gare Saint-Lazare
Gare Saint-Lazare
Paris Saint-Lazare is one of the six large terminus train stations of Paris. It is the second busiest in Paris, behind the Gare du Nord, handling 274,000 passengers each day.-History:...
, a railroad station in north Paris. One of Caillebotte's best known works, it debuted at the Third Impressionist
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
Exhibition of 1877 and is currently owned by the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
. Art Institute curator Gloria Groom described the piece as "the great picture of urban life in the late 19th century."
Caillebotte's interest in photography is evident in the painting. The figures in the foreground appear slightly "out of focus", those in the mid-distance (the carriage and the pedestrians in the middle of the intersection) have sharp edges, and then the background becomes progressively indistinct.