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Caillebotte Paris Street A Rainy Day

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There are numerous cliché statements regarding art, such as “A picture is worth a thousand words” or “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, certainly, this would apply when viewing two paintings depicting a rainy day in the late 19th Century. The first painting titled Paris Street; A Rainy Day (1877) is by Gustave Caillebotte and the second is by Childe Hassam titled A Rainy Day on Fifth Avenue (1893). By first glance, both paintings have some obvious similarities, most notable being people walking in the rain with horse drawn carriages in the background, but given the period the paintings may have very different interpretations by the viewer. The two artists use very different painting styles depicting their ideas of a rainy day. Caillebotte uses the …show more content…

The streets are cobbled, the afternoon sky is cloud covered and shows a subtle gradation from rose-gray near the horizon to a cool gray toward the top, and everyone is walking under umbrellas. Many characters look as if they are out for a leisurely stroll, shopping, or just taking in the sights. Men wear top hats and long tailed coats while the women wear full-length dresses, all symbolic of the late 19th century. The artist used deep colors, making the painting appear darker; perhaps to evoke the feeling of a rainy day or that it is sometime between late afternoon and early evening. It is interesting to note that a fashionably dressed Parisian couple (a man and a woman) in the foreground of the painting is walking toward the viewer. They are portrayed in sharper detail than others are, while objects further away have fewer distinguishing features. This is especially noticeable when viewing the buildings; immediately you notice the painting blurs the further away or deeper into the picture it goes. Caillebotte provides a lot of depth and detail, allowing the viewer to enjoy all that is occurring in the

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