The Seine with the Pont de Clichy

Painted in the summer of 1887 during Van Gogh's Paris years, this view of the Seine at the Pont de Clichy shows his absorption of Impressionist landscape subjects during his two years in the French capital. The suburban waterway was a favourite subject for Van Gogh, Seurat, and the Pointillists who frequented the riverside at Asnières and Clichy. Van Gogh's palette and touch lightened dramatically during this period under direct exposure to Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist work in Paris. This river scene represents his growing confidence in the new mode of painting he was absorbing.

The water surface is built with horizontally applied strokes of blue, green, and white that create shimmering reflective quality. The bridge is rendered in firmer, more geometric strokes. The sky above is handled lightly. Colour mixing happens on the canvas surface rather than on the palette — a technique absorbed from the Impressionists he was meeting in Paris at this time.