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| Pont Boieldieu in Rouen, Rainy Weather, 1896 |
The theme is the bridge near the Place de la Bourse with the effects of rain, crowds of people coming and going, smoke from the boats, quays with cranes, workers in the foreground, and all this in grey colors glistening in the rain...what particularly interests me is the motif off the iron bridge in wet weather with all the vehicles, pedestrians, workers on the embankment, boats, smoke, haze in the distance; it's so spirited, so alive.
--Camille Pissarro, born on this day in 1830
It's a lovely painting and also very interesting. Not all are the latter.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, I doubt Pissarro stood there painting the scene in the rain, so he must have had a very good memory.
DeleteWe are paying the price for the industrial revolution now via global warming.
ReplyDeleteI know that, Debra, but Pissarro wasn't necessarily endorsing the Industrial Revolution, just depicting it.
DeleteI'm just in awe of this piece of art. I don't know why I don't have that talent. Lol
ReplyDeleteWell, Lux, you like to write, right? You have that artistic streak in you, but for whatever reason it went in a whole different direction.
DeleteThat talent and a great face, too!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it, Mitchell? The other pictures of Pissarro I found on the internet he had that stern demeanor so common in photographs of the 19th century. Here he looks like he's letting his guard down a bit.
DeleteThank you for this amazing imagery and history. Be well!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Darla. You be well, too.
DeleteHello Kirk, This painting shows the transition of prettiness to the grittiness and starkness of the late 19th century (and later). The same spirit showed up in the U.S. in the Ashcan Group, and in such photographers as Margaret Bourke-White, who as you know started her career and made many of her famous steel mill photographs in Cleveland plants.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Oh, yes, Jim, it was a common theme of artists at the turn of the century. Pissarro just got to it a little earlier than others.
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