Paris Street; Rainy Day
Considered Caillebotte’s masterpiece, this view of a busy intersection captures both an everyday moment and all that was new in a rapidly changing Paris. The clothes are the latest fashion. The retractable umbrella was just invented. And a decades-long renovation had transformed the medieval streets of Paris into grand boulevards, like the ones seen here. It's a painting you want to walk into.
Details
- Palette
-
Select a color to find related artworks.
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 212.2 × 276.2 cm (83 1/2 × 108 3/4 in.); Framed: 241.3 × 306.1 × 10.2 cm (95 × 120 1/2 × 4 in.)
- Origin
- Paris
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture of Europe
- Holding institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image provider
- art-institute-chicago
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection
Art Genome Taxonomy
12 tags
Subject Matter
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Cityscapes and City Scenes Both · 99%
The catalog identifies Paris, urban life, streets, and cityscapes; the image visibly depicts a broad Parisian intersection surrounded by buildings.
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Scenes of Everyday Life Both · 96%
The catalog describes an everyday moment and genre scene, while the image shows pedestrians crossing an ordinary city street.
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Water Both · 88%
Rain and water are listed subjects, and the wet, reflective cobblestones visibly convey the weather.
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Human Figure Visual · 99%
Numerous pedestrians occupy the foreground, middle distance, and background.
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Movement Both · 91%
The catalog discusses figures in motion, and the walking pedestrians, overlapping umbrellas, and spatial distribution of bodies create a sense of urban circulation.
Styles and Movements
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Impressionism Both · 96%
The catalog lists Impressionism as a style, while the image presents modern urban life with atmospheric handling of rain and reflected light.
Visual Qualities
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Emphasis on Linear Perspective Visual · 94%
The boulevard, curb, building façades, and cobblestone courses recede toward the intersection through pronounced perspective lines.
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Asymmetrical Visual · 95%
The composition is strongly uneven, with an expansive street on the left and large cropped figures, umbrellas, and a red façade crowding the right foreground.
Medium and Techniques
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Painting Metadata · 99%
The catalog classifies the work as a painting and identifies its medium as oil on canvas.
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Oil Painting Metadata · 99%
The catalog explicitly specifies oil on canvas.
Time Periods
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19th Century Art Metadata · 99%
The work is dated 1877, placing it in the nineteenth century.
Geographic Regions
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French Art Metadata · 98%
The artist is identified as French and the work’s place of origin is Paris.
Source & rights
Gustave Caillebotte. Paris Street; Rainy Day. The Art Institute of Chicago.