View of Paris by Antoine Vollon

Antoine Vollon's "View of Paris" (1890) captures rue Fléchier and Notre-Dame-de-Lorette in the 9th arrondissement. It hangs in the Rijksmuseum, painted by an artist who was once among the most celebrated painters in France.

Look at the church roof: Vollon's brushwork is fast and loose, each stroke visible. The sunlit facade on the right creates sharp contrast. A carriage climbs the gently rising street. A solitary figure slips into a doorway.

Vollon was called a "painter's painter," admired by other artists for his mastery of still life, landscape, and figure work. In his lifetime he was a celebrity. After his death in 1900, his fame faded. In 2004, a New York gallery noted his "place in the history of French painting has still not been properly assessed."

A forgotten master left his mark on this ordinary Paris street. His signature is still there, in the lower right corner.