Restauration of Gustave Caillebotte's painting

Chicago - Conservator Faye Wrubel began restoring Gustave Caillebotte's "Paris Street; Rainy Day" at the Art Institute of Chicago last October. At first, she thought it would be a routine sprucing-up.

The museum will unveil this painting to the public on April 23rd.

Thanks to ultraviolet photos, which show a spectrum different from "normal" light, and other tests, Ms. Wrubel was able to discern a layer of paint over the sky added by a previous restorer.

The change had left the sky duller and more one-dimensional. Once the old, yellowed varnish was removed, the painting had an airier, bluer cast overall with sharper contrasts, increased depth and a greater sense of light. As a result, curators now believe Caillebotte is likely to be viewed more as a bona fide Impressionist and less a traditional realist.

"It's helping us understand something we didn't realize: He was an Impressionist in the truest sense of the word in terms of the interest in temporality", said Gloria Groom, the Art Institute's curator. Caillebotte did not depict a generic rainy day in this bustling street scene near the Gare St. Lazare, but he had in mind a precise moment right after the rain has stopped and the sun is trying to break through—the kind of specificity that was a hallmark of the Impressionists.

"We are all surprised", Ms. Wrubel said of the change in color in "Rainy Day." "Nobody anticipated that. We've accepted this painting in its present state for so long that everyone thought the yellow color was the atmosphere of the rainy day that Caillebotte intended".

After the overpainting was removed, a more richly complex sky was revealed, beginning with a darker yellow closer to the buildings, perhaps suggesting smoke or pollution, and modulating upward into a cream color and then gray. "I think the last person who restored this painting misunderstood that and painted it out, thinking it was damage or discoloration", the conservator said. "So, they painted out that slightly darker area and made it match the rest of the sky".

The famous paintng will remain on view until May 7, when it will be removed again briefly while the walls surrounding it are repainted.