Gustave Caillebotte was born in Paris, France on August 19, 1848. His family had made their money in textiles and real estate during the reconstruction of Paris. He had originally started training to be an engineer but became interested in painting. He entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1873. When his father died in 1874 he was left independent and wealthy. He met the early impressionists (Monet, Renoir, and Degas) in 1874. That same year he helped organize the first impressionist exhibition in Paris.

Caillebotte participated in many of the exhibitions. He

The Impressionist played around a lot with natural light (and I know this myself). In this painting it is evident where the natural light was used. The umbrellas give you a major hint that he was displaying natural light. You can almost tell where the sun would be positioned from where it hits the umbrella. The couple in the foreground’s umbrella receives the light straight from the top, missing the right side of it. The two men walking together on the left has an umbrella receives the light all around. The cobblestones are darker in the front, where a building is right next to them. As you look at the cobblestones in the background there is light everywhere and it is so bright the images of cobblestone disappear. The light is able to pass through because they are in the open space.

There is a lot of expressive content. Off into the distance to the right of the building you can see the image of some type of construction. This intersection had probably just finished getting reconstructed. All of the people in the painting look well dressed. Everyone has long coats on and the men have very fancy hats on. This shows that this was not a poor area. The couple in the foreground look like they were well to do. The lady has pearl earrings on and the man has a complete suit on. They are both staring off into the distance, probably looking at some other new constructions.

He uses a linear perspective. Everything in the foreground of the painting looks clear. You can even see the veil in front of the woman’s face. You can see the Cobblestone. As you go further the people become smaller, the cobblestone become unclear, and everything lightens up. The main building at the intersection starts off tall at the top. As you go further into the painting the horizontal lines slant d

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