Bridge at Poissy (Pêcheurs à ligne)
This surprising, naturalist painting by the renowned French academic-realist Ernst Meissonier depicts a man and a woman in small boat on the river Seine at Poissy, a small town about 15 miles northeast of Paris. The fashionably dressed figures, presumably members of the new urban class at leisure, are fishing in the shade of several trees on the bank. The man wears straw hat, his shirt sleeves casually rolled up, while the woman stands in the boat extending her pole over the water.
Colors in this work
Details
- Date
- 1881
- Medium
- oil on board
- Dimensions
- unframed: height 0.337 m, width 0.563 m
- Origin
- France, 19th century
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Palette
-
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- Image provider
- cleveland-museum-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Bequest of Muriel Butkin
Art Genome Taxonomy
9 tags
Subject Matter
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Landscapes and Waterscapes Both · 99%
The painting depicts a riverbank, trees, bridge, distant buildings, and open water; the museum identifies the setting as the Seine at Poissy.
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Leisure Metadata · 98%
The museum describes the man and woman as fashionably dressed figures at leisure who are fishing from a small boat.
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Modes of Transportation Both · 98%
A small boat is the principal vehicle in the foreground, and the museum identifies the figures as fishing from a small boat on the Seine.
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Reflections Visual · 98%
The foreground water contains visible, broken reflections of the boat, trees, bridge, and sky.
Styles and Movements
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19th Century French Academy Metadata · 86%
The museum describes the work as naturalist and identifies Meissonier in relation to French academic realism, supporting its association with the 19th-century French academic tradition.
Visual Qualities
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Dark Colors Visual · 93%
The painted scene is dominated by deep greens, browns, and muted gray-blue tones, with relatively subdued coloration.
Medium and Techniques
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Oil Painting Metadata · 99%
The museum explicitly identifies the medium as oil on board.
Time Periods
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19th Century Art Metadata · 99%
The museum dates the work to 1881.
Geographic Regions
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French Art Metadata · 99%
The artist is identified as French and the place of origin is listed as France.
Source & rights
Ernest Meissonier (French, 1815–1891). Bridge at Poissy (Pêcheurs à ligne). Cleveland Museum of Art.
High-resolution sources
- Original TIFF ↗ 6,668 × 4,582 · Cleveland Museum Of Art · Available