In 1873 Caillebotte was accepted into the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. There he made connections with painters such as Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, and Edgar Degas.

Paris Street; Rainy Day was displayed at the Impressionist show of 1877.

The quiet and uninvolved mood is acheived through the blue-grey atmosphere behind the limestone buildings and the fact that none of the characters are speaking or looking in the direction of the viewer or each other.

A rigid geometric order is echoed in the piece through the cobblestones, and the lampost, which splits the scene vertically.