Claude Monet - The Wooden Bridge 1872

The Wooden Bridge 1872
The Wooden Bridge
1872 54x73cm oil/canvas
Fondation Rau pour le Tiers-Monde, Switzerland

« previous picture | 1870s Monet's paintings | next picture »

With muted tones of brown, grey and mauve, the artist has carefully constructed the painting so that a single span of the Argenteuil highway bridge frames the scene: sailboats moored near the banks of the river Seine, a church spire in the distance, a steam boat puffing and a calm river basin, all beneath an overcast sky. Silhouetted figures scuttling across the bridge at the top of the frame illustrate a town that is once again a hive of activity.