The Japanese Footbridge
1899
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 81.3 x 101.6 cm (32 x 40 in.) framed: 101 x 120.7 x 7.6 cm (39 3/4 x 47 1/2 x 3 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CF
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Victoria Nebeker Coberly, in memory of her son John W. Mudd, and Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg
Accession Number
1992.9.1
Art Historical Context
Claude Monet's *The Japanese Footbridge*1899) captures a serene moment in the artist's beloved garden at Giverny,. As a cornerstone of Impressionism, Monet revolutionized painting by emphasizing fleeting effects of light and color over precise detail. This oil on canvas work depicts the arched wooden bridge he had built over his lily pond, inspired by Japanese art—a passion that influenced many Western artists of the era. The intimate scale (81.3 x 101.6 cm) invites viewers into this private paradise, where Monet spent his later years immersed in nature. Monet's loose, vibrant brushstrokes ma...
About the Artist
Claude Monet · 1840–1926
Claude Monet, born Oscar-Claude Monet on November 14, 1840, in Paris and raised in Le Havre, Normandy, began his artistic journey as a successful teenage caricaturist. His formal training started at the Le Havre secondary school of the arts in 1851, where he received his first drawing lessons from Jacques-François Ochard. Around 1858, he met Eugène Boudin, who became his pivotal mentor, introducin...