The Bridge of Louis Philippe

Jean-Baptiste-Armand Guillaumin (1841-1927) was a French Impressionist painter known for the vibrant, colorful landscapes that make him one of the most important members of the Impressionist group despite being less famous than Monet, Renoir, and Pissarro. The Bridge of Louis Philippe from 1875 depicts a Paris bridge in the vibrant, colorful manner that distinguishes Guillaumin's best landscapes from the more atmospheric work of his Impressionist contemporaries. The 1875 date places this in Guillaumin's most productive period, when he was exhibiting with the Impressionist group and developing the vibrant color that would become his most distinctive contribution to Impressionism.

The Bridge of Louis Philippe is important in the history of Impressionism because it demonstrates the vibrant, colorful manner that Guillaumin brought to landscape painting as one of the most consistent exhibitors in the Impressionist exhibitions. Guillaumin's vibrant landscapes—using the pure, bright colors that would later influence the Fauves—represent an important strand within Impressionism that is more colorful and less atmospheric than the work of Monet or Pissarro, and the 1875 painting shows this colorful strand of Impressionism at its most vibrant.

The Bridge of Louis Philippe is Guillaumin's vibrant Impressionism: a Paris bridge rendered in the bright, pure colors of one of the most consistent exhibitors in the Impressionist group. The 1875 painting shows the colorful strand of Impressionism that would later influence the Fauves—vibrant color applied with Impressionist observation.