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Rue du Regard

Eugène Atget

1899

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Impressionism Realism Late 19th Century

Dominant colour

Rue du Regard is a 1899 by Eugène Atget, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Eugène Atget
When & what style?: 1899 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

This painting shows a street scene with a row of buildings on the left side. The buildings have ornate details like carvings and shutters. The street is empty, and the buildings seem to be in a state of disrepair. The painting has a sense of quietness and stillness, with no signs of life or activity. The artist has captured the textures and details of the buildings, giving the painting a sense of realism. If you're interested in learning more about this style of painting, you might want to explore the Impressionism movement.

The story of this work

Overview

This entrance, which looks similar today, led into the courtyard for the “petit hôtel de Guiche,” built in the 1700s, which adjoined the larger “hôtel de Guiche.” Fragments of those buildings have been incorporated into the modern structures that now occupy the land behind the portal. The houses were named for the de Guiche family, aristocrats that occupied them in the mid-1700s. Their son was guillotined in 1794 following the French Revolution.