The Pont Neuf

Johan Barthold Jongkind

1849–50 · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

This view is based on drawings (Musée du Louvre, Paris) that Jongkind made along the Seine in 1849, the year he began to paint scenes of Paris. He took liberties with the prospect by reducing the number of the bridge’s arches from five to four, eliminating the Place Dauphine, and making Notre-Dame Cathedral appear closer than it is from this vantage point on the river’s left bank. These alterations, together with the dramatic sky and open brushwork, amount to a composition very much in the manner of Jongkind’s mentor, the Romantic marine painter Eugène Isabey (1803–1886).

Artist

Johan Barthold Jongkind

Date

1849–50

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Mendelsohn, 1980