Bridge at Poissy (Pêcheurs à ligne)

1881

Ernest Meissonier

(French, 1815–1891)

Culture

France, 19th century

Medium

oil on board

Measurements

Unframed: 33.7 x 56.3 cm (13 1/4 x 22 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2022.432

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

Renowned British art critic John Ruskin marveled at Meissonier’s ability to paint minute detail after examining his paintings at length with a magnifying glass.

Description

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.