The Bridge at Argenteuil

Monet painted this bridge at Argenteuil in 1874, the year of the first Impressionist exhibition. He was thirty-four, living in Argenteuil, a suburb on the Seine northwest of Paris, and producing the paintings that would define Impressionism: river scenes, sailboats, gardens, and bridges. The painting shows the highway bridge at Argenteuil, a modern iron structure that carried the road from Paris to Rouen across the Seine. The bridge fills the upper half of the canvas, its iron trusses cutting across the sky. Below the bridge, the river is a band of blue and green, with sailboats at anchor. A regatta is in progress, and the boats' white sails catch the light. The far bank is visible through the bridge, a line of trees and buildings against the sky. Monet lived at Argenteuil from 1871 to 1878, during the most productive period of his career. The Seine at Argenteuil was wide and slow, perfect for sailing, and the town had become a popular destination for Parisians. Monet painted the bridge several times, from different angles and in different light. This version, at the National Gallery of Art, shows the bridge from downstream, with the sailboats in the foreground. The bridge at Argenteuil was a modern structure, built in 1830 to replace an earlier wooden bridge. It was the kind of engineering that Monet and his fellow Impressionists found interesting: functional, industrial, and visually striking. The iron trusses create a grid pattern against the sky, which Monet used as a compositional device, framing the sky and the distant bank through the structure. Oil on canvas, 60 by 79 centimeters, roughly 24 by 31 inches. Monet used short, broken brushstrokes to build the water and the sky, layering blues, greens, and whites to create the effect of light on the river. The bridge is painted in broad strokes of dark blue and grey, its iron structure sharp against the pale sky. The sailboats are built in quick dabs of white, their reflections trembling in the water below. This print works in a living room or office, where the river scene and the blue palette suit a bright space. The cool tones pair with white walls, glass furniture, and chrome fixtures. The 18x24 size gives the bridge and the sailboats enough room to read. The painting is in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.