Image: public domain, courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago

Paris Street; Rainy Day

Gustave Caillebotte, 1877

Elegant Parisians with umbrellas cross a wide, new street crossing on a grey, rainy day. Caillebotte did not paint the raindrops: we feel the rain through the umbrellas and the shining wet cobblestones.

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Did you know?

This is Caillebotte's largest painting, about 2 metres high and almost 3 metres wide.
The crossing is a few minutes from the Saint-Lazare railway station, close to where Caillebotte lived.
These wide streets were brand new: Baron Haussmann's plan had rebuilt this part of Paris during Caillebotte's lifetime.
It was shown in April 1877 at the third Impressionist exhibition, which Caillebotte himself largely organised.
After Caillebotte died in 1894, the painting stayed with his brother Martial's family for decades.
The American collector Walter P. Chrysler Jr. bought it in 1954, and the Art Institute of Chicago acquired it in 1964.

About the artist

Gustave Caillebotte (1848–1894) was born in Paris into a wealthy family, studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and became a friend of Monet and Renoir.

He painted modern Paris and its people, from The Floor Scrapers of 1875 to Paris Street; Rainy Day of 1877, with its bold, deep perspective.

He used his fortune to buy his friends' paintings and help organise their exhibitions, and he loved sailing so much that he raced his own boats in regattas on the Seine.

Gustave Caillebotte ›

Where it is today: The Art Institute of Chicago · Museum page