The Impressionistic Mechanics behind Claude Monet’s, The Seine at Bougival This painting was featured in the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire from July to November in a three-piece exhibition series titled ‘Monet’s Path to Impressionism’. Painted in 1869, The Bridge at Bougival is an oil on canvas painting which measures approximately 26x36 inches. The exhibit showcases Monet’s transition to impressionistic art; In The Seine at Bougival, Monet produces a plein-air painting which features the emergence of an impressionistic flare, visible from the intense focus on light and a brushstroke which bodes essence over exaction. Monet’s plein-air styled painting is most clearly identified by his choice of subject. Monet could have easily chosen to paint a scene which featured the cafés or inns frequented by throngs of weekend visitors in France, but instead chooses not to paint the typical scene of Bougival. Monet’s subject is the foot of a bridge in Bougival as he approaches. Encompassed in the painting are several people crossing the bridge, including a woman and child. Monet embeds himself in the scene and creates a sense of belonging where one pedestrian is…show more content… Monet also doesn’t rearrange any of the aspects in his view, he includes the popular trees which flank the path and obscure the view of the sky. Visible from Monet’s view is a river, which is painted loosely on the left of the bridge. Also visible is the small town which lies beyond the water and a blue sky littered with clouds that casts shadows below. All of these features are legible due to Monet’s decision to make form a function of color, a feature of impressionism which simultaneously reveals and disintegrates
