''Drawbridge in Nieuw-Amsterdam'' is a watercolor created in November 1883 by

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

Drente Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of N ...

, The

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Watercolor painting

Van Gogh wrote to his brother,

Theo Theo is a given name and a hypocorism. Greek origin Many names beginning with the root "Theo-" derive from the Ancient Greek word ''theos'' (''θεός''), which means god, for example: *Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, ...

, of the view outside his room in Nieuw-Amsterdam, Drenthe: "I now have a reasonably large room where a stove has been placed, where there happens to be a small balcony. From which I can even see the

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...

with the huts. I also look out on a very curious drawbridge." Within the letter he drew a sketch of the bridge, which became the watercolor, ''Drawbridge in Nieuw-Amsterdam''. The work was one of 148 watercolors made by Van Gogh, who said of working in that medium in 1881:

What a splendid thing watercolour is to express atmosphere and distance,
so that the figure is surrounded by air and can breathe in it, as it were.

Five years after having made this work, van Gogh made ''

Langlois Bridge at Arles The Langlois Bridge at Arles is the subject of four oil paintings, one watercolor and four drawings by Vincent van Gogh. The works, made in 1888 when Van Gogh lived in Arles, in southern France, represent a melding of formal and creative aspects ...

'' in France which captures a lighter mood.

Fred Orton Fred Lionel Orton (born 1945, Coventry, Warwickshire England) is an English art historian. His initial training was at Coventry College of Art in painting as a Dip.A,D student. He extended his experience in the History and Development of Art init ...

; Griselda Pollock.
Avant-Gardes and Partisans Reviewed
'. Manchester University Press ND; 15 February 1997. . p. 361. File:Van Gogh - Die Brücke von Langlois in Arles1.jpeg, ''Langlois Bridge at Arles'', watercolor, 1888, Private collection (F1480)

Watercolor painting

See also

Notes

References

Further reading