Impressionism / themes:

Wheater conditions

Rain

 

Introduction:
Typical for the impressionist painting style is the rendering of wheater conditions. Rain is one of those conditions. But, it is not often depicted and in many of these pictures, the rain is not really visible.
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Caillebotte, Temps de pluie:
In 1877 Gustave Caillebotte exhibited ‘Temps de pluie’ at the 3rd ‘impressionist’ exposition (M20).
He beautifully depicts the wet street. But, there are no raindrops on the umbrella’s. The two people in front don’t seem hindered by the rain at all. Maybe they were painted in the studio.
In his ‘Riverbank in the rain’ he depicts circles in the water, but in front on the path the rain is not clearly depicted.

 

Renoir and his umbrellas:
In Auguste Renoir his painting ‘The umbrellas’ we neither see raindrops on the umbrella’s. Judging by the woman in the middle, who closes her umbrella, the rain has just stopped. But, the young woman and the two children in front, all without umbrella’s, don’t give any indication that it has just before rained. (M61)

 

Sisley depicted the rain:
Alfred Sisley several times depicted rainy wheater conditions. Namely in Moret and 4 times the church of Moret. In CCPP740 the streets indeed seem wet and it also looks windy, but the sky doesn’t depict dark clouds. In CCPP906 the rain can’t be recognized, not even circles in the water are depicted. In CCPP931 +939 the wet street is nicely depicted, but in CCPP929 +936 the (effect of) rain is barely recognisable.

 

Monet hardly depicted the rain:
Claude Monet hardly depicted the rain.
He did so from his residence in Kervilahouen at Belle-Île, depicting a transparant curtain of rain, which makes the view hazy (CR1120 +1121).
But, he also did so in the open, depicting the rocks at Port-Domois (CR1112).
He did so again in a later version of his morning (mist) serie (CR1499). It is clearly windy, but there are no circles in the water. There are also rays of sunlight, so it was not fully cloudy. Maybe he painted this picture from his studio boat.

 

Rain in catalogue titles:
In the catalogue titles of the 8 ‘impressionist’ expositions sometimes there is referred to rainy wheater conditions.

1IE-1874-65, Temps pluvieux; paysage (Guillaumin)
3IE-1877-1, Rue de Paris; Temps de pluie (Caillebotte)

 

 

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