Pissarro, Camille (1830-1903)
Le Pont-Neuf
1902
Oil on canvas, 55.3 x 46.5 cm
Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
Pissarro produced a dozen of paintings of the Pont Neuf, the oldest stone bridge in Paris, capturing the elegant limestone structure spanning the Seine in both morning and afternoon light, in snow, rain, and sunshine. The aging painter, who suffered from eye disease, always viewed the scene from the same spot, observing the busy traffic and houses on the opposite bank from the window of his apartment on the Île de la Cité. The painting’s structure is defined by the powerful diagonal of the bridge: the crowds that line the road and the central flow of carriages follows the same dynamic line. The Budapest painting captures the play of bright sunlight and vibrant colours. Although by this time Pissarro had long abandoned the strict, time-consuming methods of neo-impressionism, he cleverly adapted the technique he had mastered alongside Georges Seurat and Paul Signac: his use of pointilliste brushwork is most apparent in the slightly rippled surface of the water and the depiction of the bustling crowds. In this painting, however, the tiny dots of pure colour are used not primarily as a means of optical colour blending but rather to convey dynamic movement. Anna Zsófia Kovács (MNG)
Compare:
Pissarro, Camille (1830-1903)
Le Pont-Neuf, après-midi, soleil
1901
Philadelphia Art Museum, Philadelphia
Pissarro, Camille (1830-1903)
Le Pont Neuf, effet de neige
1902
National Museum Wales, Cardiff