Emmanuel Lansyer, La place Maubert en 1888, oil on canvas, Carnavelet. This is located on the Left Bank, in the 5th Arrondissement. The street in the foreground running across the picture is Boulevard St. Germain. Today this is a lively quarter with a small outdoor produce market several times a week. This image is from Duby, L'Histoire de Paris par la Peinture.

Emile Zola writes Le Reve.

Gauguin paints The Young Christ. (CHF)

Founding of the Pasteur Institute. (AF)

A chair in experimental psychology is established in the College de France, reflecting the growth of a new field of study. (CHF)

Van Gogh, The Night Cafe, 1888, Oil on canvas,  70 x 89 cm, Yale University Art Gallery. This year Van Gogh goes to Arles and paints in the south of France.

More broadly:

The principle of the general strike is adopted as a social protest movement. (CHF)

The Convention of London guarantees right of free passage through the Suez Canal. (CHF)

William II becomes emperor of Germany. (CHF)

The first aluminum foundry is established in the Alps. (CHF)

The building of the Panama canal turns into a financial scandal in France. (AF)