Pont Neuf, Paris

Renoir painted Pont Neuf, Paris in 1872, during the years when he was living in Paris and painting the city's streets and bridges. He was 31 years old and had been an Impressionist since the first group exhibition was still two years away. He was sharing a studio with his brother Edmond and struggling to sell his work, but he was painting at a furious rate, producing the landscapes and city scenes that would be shown in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874. The painting shows the Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge in Paris, seen from the right bank of the Seine. The bridge is filled with figures: pedestrians, carriage drivers, and street vendors. The buildings of the left bank are visible in the background, painted in soft blues and grays. The sky is filled with light, and the sun illuminates the figures on the bridge, casting short shadows on the stone pavement. Renoir's brother Edmond later recounted the inception of this painting in an interview. He told how Renoir secured an owner's permission to occupy an upstairs room with a view of the bridge, and how Edmond was enlisted to delay passersby on the street below by stopping them to ask directions, giving Renoir time to study their appearance before they moved on. This anecdote captures the method of early Impressionism: a combination of direct observation from nature and practical improvisation. The painting is one of Renoir's most ambitious city scenes, combining a landscape with a crowd of figures. The figures are painted in quick, small strokes of color, with their faces barely indicated and their clothing suggested by a few dots of blue, black, and white. The bridge is painted in warm stone tones, with the arches and the pavement described in broad, horizontal strokes. The sky is painted in soft, luminous layers of blue and white, with the light falling evenly across the scene. Oil on canvas, 75 by 93 centimeters. Renoir painted with short, broken strokes, building the figures in small patches of color that suggest their forms without drawing them. The bridge is painted in warm, translucent layers of cream and brown, with the stone described by the color relationships rather than by drawing. The sky is painted in thin, even layers of blue and white, applied in broad, horizontal strokes. The surface has the fresh, lively quality of a painting made outdoors, with the colors mixed on the canvas rather than on the palette. The horizontal format and warm palette make this print work well in a living room, dining room, or office. The warm earth tones, blues, and whites pair with white walls, natural wood, and rooms with a traditional or urban mood. The 18x24 size is the best choice, as the composition needs width to read. The painting has a lively, luminous quality that suits rooms with a warm or social mood. The painting entered the National Gallery of Art in Washington as part of the Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection. This is a public domain artwork, from the National Gallery of Art, Washington. The image is released under Creative Commons Zero (CC0). We print it on archival matte paper at sizes from 8x10 to 18x24 inches, framed or unframed.