Gezicht op een straat met koetsen op een regenachtige dag 1876

Félix Hilaire Buhot created this street scene with carriages on a rainy day using graphite. Its monochromatic palette casts a subdued, almost dreamlike atmosphere over the urban landscape. The composition is structured by horizontal bands of reflection and vertical elements such as buildings and the sharp lines of a lamp post on the right of the image. These vertical lines disrupt the horizontal flow of the composition, adding a sense of structure amidst the atmospheric blur. Buhot uses this tension between the stability of verticality and the fluidity of the reflections to destabilize our sense of perspective and space. The artist uses line and form to suggest movement and the transient nature of urban life. The soft, blurred lines of the buildings contrast with the sharper, more defined edges of the carriages, creating a visual rhythm that mimics the hustle and bustle of the street. The effect isn't just aesthetic. It challenges our fixed ways of viewing urban space, inviting us to see the city as a dynamic, ever-changing entity.