''Le Pont-Neuf'' is an 1872 oil-on-canvas painting by the French artist

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "R ...

. It is held by the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

in Washington, D.C.Rubin, James H.(2008). ''Impressionism and the Modern Landscape: Productivity, Technology, and Urbanization from Manet to Van Gogh''. University of California Press. pp. 51-53.

Background

The

Pont Neuf The Pont Neuf (, "New Bridge") is the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris, France. It stands by the western (downstream) point of the Île de la Cité, the island in the middle of the river that was, between 250 and 225 BC, ...

is the oldest standing bridge across the river

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. It was completed in

1607 Events January–June * January 13 – The Bank of Genoa fails, after the announcement of national bankruptcy in Spain. * January 19 – San Agustin Church, Manila, is officially completed; by the 21st century it will be the ...

by Henry IV. In

1867 Events January–March * January 1 – The Covington–Cincinnati Suspension Bridge opens between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky, in the United States, becoming the longest single-span bridge in the world. It was renamed a ...

, French painters

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

and Renoir first depicted the bridge in their series of riverbank paintings, returning to the subject again in

1872 Events January–March * January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. * February 2 – The government of the United Kingdom buys a number of forts on ...

.Williams, Ellen (1997). ''The Impressionists' Paris: Walking Tours of the Painters' Studios, Homes, and the Sites They Painted''. New York Review of Books. pp. 32-35. . This time, they were painting in the turbulent aftermath of the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

uprising.Strieter, Terry W. (1999). ''Nineteenth-century European Art: A Topical Dictionary''. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 180.

Description

Both Renoir and Monet painted separate works using the same perspective to depict the Right Bank side of the bridge from the second-floor window of a cafe. Edmond Renoir, Renoir's brother, helped him to set the scene by delaying people walking on the bridge and asking them questions, giving Renoir time to sketch their likeness. Edmond himself appears twice in the painting with a walking stick and straw boater hat.National Gallery of Art. (2022)
"Overview"
Pont Neuf, Paris. Retrieved March 20, 2022. Renoir started his work in the spring and sold it at auction to French art dealer

Paul Durand-Ruel Paul Durand-Ruel (31 October 1831, Paris – 5 February 1922, Paris) was a French art dealer associated with the Impressionists and the Barbizon School. Being the first to support artists such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste ...

on March 24, 1875, for only 300 francs.

References

External links

*
Pont Neuf, Paris, 1872
' at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pont-Neuf category:Paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir category:1872 paintings Paintings in the National Gallery of Art Bridges in art

Background

Description

See also

References

External links