![Alfred Sisley - Bridge At Villeneuve-La-Garenne [1872] by Gandalf's Gallery](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7179/6838143792_42317ff723.jpg)
Modern, newly constructed bridges were often the focal point for compositions by Sisley and other Impressionists. The motif of the cast-iron and suspension bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne provides a sweeping diagonal thrust across this riverbank scene along the Seine painted in summer 1872. Sisley painted a more distant and less dramatic view of the same bridge that spring. The application of paint in flat, rectangular strokes and the crisp articulation of form are distinctive characteristics of the artist's work in the early 1870s.
[Oil on canvas, 49.5 x 65.4 cm]