About this artwork

Wood completed several stylisically different paintings of bridges over the River Seine, which reflects the way he developed his own technique. In experimenting with a series of influences such as Fauvism and Impressionism, he combined different characteristics to create his own mode of expression. This painting shows distinct similarities to Henri Rousseau’s primitivist work, featuring motifs frequently found in Rousseau’s paintings – a river and factory chimneys - and heavy black lines. The dark palette is brought to life by a vivid red dotted around the painting, drawing the viewer further into the work and highlighting details such as the fire below the bridge and billowing smoke. The bridge is almost certainly the ‘Passerelle Debilly’, a footbridge close to the Eiffel Tower.

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
    Christopher Wood (1901 - 1930) English
  • title:
    Bridge over the Seine
  • date created:
    1927
  • materials:
    Oil on wood
  • measurements:
    37.80 x 45.90 cm; Framed: 61.00 x 68.70 x 7.20 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Bequeathed by Miss Elizabeth Watt 1989
  • accession number:
    GMA 3524
  • gallery:
  • subject:
  • artwork photographed by:
    Antonia Reeve
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Christopher Wood

Christopher Wood