The Gleize Bridge over the Vigueirat Canal

The Gleize Bridge over the Vigueirat Canal, painted at Arles in 1888, belongs to Van Gogh's series of bridge subjects made in and around the city. The drawbridge motif — which he had explored in his Dutch work at Nuenen — reappears in the south in a new chromatic key, the Provençal light transforming a similar architectural subject. Women washing laundry in the canal below the bridge connect this landscape to human activity, the bridge itself providing strong geometric structure within the composition. The Pola Museum of Art in Japan holds this as part of its significant European collection.

The bridge's architectural geometry provides strong horizontal and diagonal structure within the composition. Women washing below add scale and human animation. Van Gogh's Arles palette brings warm Mediterranean tones — yellows, blues, and the ochre of Provençal earth — to the scene. His brushwork is energetic and directional throughout.