On the "Pont de l'Europe"
1897/1898 (published 1899)
Medium
color lithograph on China paper
Dimensions
image: 30.6 × 34 cm (12 1/16 × 13 3/8 in.) sheet: 33.3 × 39.4 cm (13 1/8 × 15 1/2 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.8346
Art Historical Context
Edouard Vuillard's *On the "Pont de l'Europe"* (1897/1898, published 1899) captures the bustling energy of one of Paris's most iconic bridges, a symbol of the city's rapid modernization during the Belle Époque. As a key member of the Post-Impressionist group Les Nabis, Vuillard infused his work with vibrant color patterns and a decorative flair inspired by Japanese prints and Gauguin. This color lithograph depicts the bridge spanning the rail yards near Gare Saint-Lazare, evoking the hum of urban life amid steam trains and passersby—a nod to the Impressionist fascination with this site two dec...
About the Artist
Edouard Vuillard · 1868–1940
Jean-Édouard Vuillard was born on November 11, 1868, in Cuiseaux, Saône-et-Loire, France, to a retired naval captain father and seamstress mother, Marie Vuillard. After his father's early death in 1884, the family settled in Paris, where Vuillard attended the Lycée Condorcet, meeting future Nabis members like Ker-Xavier Roussel—later his brother-in-law—and Maurice Denis. He began formal training i...