Emigrating from Germany to America as a child, Robert Koehler lived in Milwaukee before returning to Germany and taking up his artistic training at the Munich Art Academy. In 1873, at the invitation of Douglas Volk (whose work appears in this gallery), Koehler moved to Minnesota to become the director of the Minneapolis School of Art - now the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. With its loose brushwork and soft, misty definitions of form, Rainy Evening on Hennepin Avenue demonstrates Koehler's familiarity with French Impressionism and the art of James Abbott McNeill Whistler, whom Koehler had met in Europe some years before. Prominent in the picture are the artist's wife, Marie, and their son, Edwin, along with the family dog. The building in the background is the Minneapolis Central Library (since demolished), which stood at 10th Street and Hennepin Avenue from 1881 until 1961. The site is now a parking lot.