Analysis Of The Promenade Under The Railroad Bridge By Claude Monet

The first piece of art that really stuck out to me was The Promenade under the Railroad Bridge by Claude Monet. When I first saw it, I felt like the setting was something out of some type of movie. It actually reminded me of a scene from Pride and Prejudice, when Mr. Darcy was walking toward Ms. Elizabeth. The work is an oil painting and was done in 1874. I feel like this made the painting a blurred look and like the day depicted could have been windy from the way the trees and bushes seem to be leaning over to one set side. It caught my attention because it looked like some type of peaceful, relaxing escapade and that the characters in it were having a pleasant encounter.

This particular painting is classified as a piece from the Impressionism era and was in the Impressionism section of the St. Louis Art Museum. The painting showed an up close view of a boy whose face could be seen. It looked as if he could have been walking right out of the painting. It looks to me as if his hands are behind is back in a cutesy way. He might be hoping or wishing for something. There was also a woman whose back was turned towards the audience. She was carrying an umbrella to block her from the sun maybe. Or there might even be rain coming as depicted by the gray sky above. There is also a bridge behind them. There seems to be some type of atmospheric perspective in this painting.

Beneath the bridge there is a boat with two unidentified figures. Behind that there are trees and it looks as if there could be a tall building or two. The lighting was overhead and slightly dimmed. It appears slightly coarse in texture. Since it is impressionism, there are no actual defined or precise strokes, but more like everything blends into or flows into every...

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...perspective was used by the artist. In the piece, I counted two deer.

There were rays of sunlight that were depicted as well. The light in the painting seemed to be focused in the middle, where the stream was. Other areas and parts of the piece were dark or darker than the area in the middle. I think that a trick with shading or lighting was used. Perhaps, it was tenebrism.

Also, I thought that the trees seemed impossibly long and unbelievably tall. They looked like they could go up and up forever. I stared long and hard trying to figure out how tall they must actually be. The areas where the trees were seemed higher than the stream. So, that the land actually looked like somewhat of a "u" shape. I think that it could be some type of valley. I thought the piece, in its entirety, was exceptionally painted and insanely beautiful. After, leaving it I felt inspired.