The Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne Alfred Sisley Buy Art Prints Now
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Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
Published on June 19, 2020 / Updated on October 14, 2023
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The Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne by Alfred Sisley is an oil on canvas painting from 1872 with dimensions of 49.5 x 65.4 cm. The painting is in the Metrepolitcan Museum of Art.

The painting is typical of the artist in being a painting of water with human life around it. This is a dyamic picture of the suspension bridge on the Seine connecting the suburbs of Saint Denis and Villeneuve-la-Garenne during the British artist's time spent living and working in Paris, during which he produced many painting of the Seine and human interactions with it. The foreground is the rippling blue and clear Seine with reflections of the bridge and houses on the far side showing only as shadows and colours. The view of the bridge starts close to the centre with a supporting plinth, the bridge is tall and beautiful with grey-brown stonework and dark ironwork, Close to the supporting plinth is a small light blue and red boat on the move, with three people on board, one standing and two sitting, their faces are unclear but it may be a man and two women, with the man standing.

The bridge above is a work of art, with stunning worked iron supporting the bridge, a towering and majestic sight over the water. On the far bank of the river a litter of small boats in a variety of colours crowds the bank under the bridge. The bank goes up in a slope under the bridge, with grass and sand or soil. There is a couple sitting on the grass under the bridge, and you can see under the bridge to the path along the bank and steep steps up onto the bridge, there is more grass, with rocks, and you can see tall building behind the bridge.

This side of the bridge on the far bank, a couple walk with a dog and the grass and earth bank continues with plants and a path along the top of the bank. There may be public toilets by the bridge. On the road which slopes down left to right behind the river bank, there are some several large houses and a shopfront awning. Behind the houses are some trees, including what looks like a disproportionately large poplar.