Paris Street; Rainy Day

The object
the green-painted iron lamppost dead-centre
The story

The intersection is the Place de Dublin in the 8th arrondissement, an intersection invented by Haussmann's renovation of the 1850s and 1860s. The lamppost is a specific identifiable Haussmannian lamppost; the corner is still there; you can stand beneath it. Caillebotte set the lamppost almost on the painting's vertical axis. He painted rain by painting wet stones rather than visible drops. Now at Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago @artinstitutechi

The reel
The painting
Paris Street; Rainy Day, Gustave Caillebotte