The Bridge of Trinquetaille

Van Gogh's Bridge of Trinquetaille at Arles, painted in 1888, depicts a modern iron bridge spanning the Rhône — one of several bridge subjects he undertook in and around Arles. The Trinquetaille bridge connected the main town with its suburb across the Rhône, and Van Gogh painted it in different conditions and from different viewpoints. His interest in bridges — both as compositional structures and as metaphors of connection — runs through his work from the Dutch drawbridges to the Arles bridges and beyond. The work is currently in a private collection.

The iron bridge's structural geometry provides strong diagonal and horizontal elements within the composition. Van Gogh's Arles palette brings warm southern light to the industrial structure, the metal rendered in blues and grays against a warm sky. Figures below the bridge or on the riverbanks provide human scale. Water reflections are handled with characteristic broken brushwork.