Railway Bridge over Avenue Montmajour, Arles, The

Van Gogh's Railway Bridge over Avenue Montmajour at Arles from 1888 depicts the modern infrastructure of the railway age crossing above the streets of the city. The railway bridge — its iron structure, its commanding presence over the road below — was among the quintessentially modern subjects that Van Gogh found as visually compelling in the south as he had industrial subjects in Holland. The perspective looking up at the bridge from the avenue below creates an unusual, dramatic viewpoint. The work is currently in a private collection or unlocated.

The bridge structure seen from below creates an unusual compositional perspective — the iron supports radiating upward and outward against the sky. Van Gogh's warm Arles palette renders the industrial iron with unexpected color richness. His brushwork handles both the structural precision of the ironwork and the more atmospheric treatment of sky and surroundings.