''Seine'' (paintings) is the subject and location of paintings that

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

made in 1887. The

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

has been an integral part of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

ian life for centuries for commerce, travel and entertainment. Here van Gogh primarily captures the respite and relief from city life found in nature. A few of the paintings were made in Paris and the rest in the northwestern suburbs of Paris in Clichy and Asnières. Through these works the audience can see a transition in his work from one of dark colors and serious themes to more joyous use of color and light and choice of themes. In the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

van Gogh was influenced by great Dutch masters as well as cousin-in-law Anton Mauve a Dutch realist painter who was a leading member of the

Hague School The Hague School () is a group of artists who lived and worked in The Hague between 1860 and 1890. Their work was heavily influenced by the realist painters of the French Barbizon school. The painters of the Hague school generally made use of re ...

. In Paris van Gogh was exposed to and influenced by

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

Pointillism Pointillism (, ) is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term "Pointillism ...

, and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

woodblock print Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later on paper. Each page or image is creat ...

genres which were overtime integrated into his works. The spring of 1887 seemed to trigger an awakening within van Gogh where he experimented with the genres to develop his personal style.

Background

The Netherlands

In the

van Gogh was influenced by great Dutch masters as well as his cousin-in-law Anton Mauve, a Dutch realist painter and leading member of the

, who had a significant early impact on Vincent van Gogh. To dull colors, van Gogh often added black to his paintings.

Paris

In 1886 van Gogh left the

for Paris never to return. His brother Theo, a successful Parisian art dealer, provided Vincent the support and connections for an immersion in

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradit ...

. Starting March 1886 van Gogh studied with

Fernand Cormon Fernand Cormon (; 24 December 1845 – 20 March 1924) was a French painter born in Paris. He became a pupil of Alexandre Cabanel, Eugène Fromentin, and Jean-François Portaels, and one of the leading historical painters of modern France. Biog ...

. During that time he lived with Theo who leased a large apartment on Rue Lepic in

Montmartre Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...

with space for a studio for his brother. Three months later Vincent abandoned his studies with Cormon, but his education continued on an informal basis as he met local artists. During 1886 he was introduced to

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

artists and their works, such as

Edgar Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints, and drawings. Degas is e ...

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; ; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French people, French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionism, Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially femininity, fe ...

Georges Seurat Georges Pierre Seurat ( , ; ; 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough ...

and

Paul Signac Paul Victor Jules Signac ( , ; 11 November 1863 – 15 August 1935) was a French Neo-Impressionist painter who, with Georges Seurat, helped develop the artistic technique Pointillism. Biography Paul-Victor-Jules Signac was born in Paris on ...

. In 1887 Van Gogh continued to make important connections with other artists who he befriended and exchanged paintings with, such as

Louis Anquetin Louis Émile Anquetin (26 January 1861 – 19 August 1932) was a French painting, painter. Biography Anquetin was born in Étrépagny, France, and educated at the Lycée Pierre Corneille (Rouen), Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen. In 1882 he cam ...

, Émile Bernard, Armand Guillaumin, Lucien Pissarro and Signac. Many of the Impressionist artists also shared his interest in

ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock printing, woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga, paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes ...

wood block prints. In the two years, from 1886 through 1888, Van Gogh emerged as a sophisticated, thoughtful and provoking artist. One of van Gogh's quarrels with Impressionists, though, was subject matter. In the late 1880s the

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

painted the modern city, one modified significantly by the work of Baron Georges Haussmann, Napoleon III's Prefect of the Seine. His plan was to build a modern city of "grand boulevards, bridges and parks", which figure into van Gogh's works of the Seine, but at an expense. The city lost tens of thousands of old buildings, some of them cherished historical buildings, and displaced tens of thousands of people to the suburbs. Paradoxically, renovations along the Seine provided some of artist's most cherished views. Prior to the renovation buildings crowded the Seine, which could only be reached at right angles from narrow streets. New bridges were built and existing ones rebuilt, without shops and other structures that previously sat on the bridges. The city benefited by more light and air and improved commerce. To celebrate the modern city, Impressionists painted the changing urban landscape. Many, including van Gogh, felt that the city "now dwarfed the individual." This was one of the key reasons for van Gogh's growing unease in Paris.

The Seine

The

(

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: Sequana) is named for its snake-like course from inland France to the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

. Numerous locks and bridges are found in the river Seine. The Seine is rich in history, provides commercial navigation and has been a source of inspiration to artists for centuries. For more than 4,500 years, the Seine has provided a means of transportation. As Paris grew, the Seine was important for trade of commodities such as firewood, grain and wine. Efficient travel, though, was not possible until canals were added and river depths were controlled in the mid to late 19thcentury. Many of key Paris buildings and monuments are located along the Seine. Starting in the 1860s Impressionists left their studios to paint ''

en plein air ''En plein air'' (; French language, French for 'outdoors'), or plein-air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein ai ...

'' (in the open air) and one of their first subjects was the Seine.

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements. He was also an influ ...

painted Pont d'Iéna, the future site of the Eiffel Tower, when the area was filled with homes and gardens. From

Notre Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...

Camille Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( ; ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). ...

painted the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

. Armand Guillaumin captured the smoke spewing factory chimneys of Ivy. In 1874

Alfred Sisley Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedic ...

made the graphic paintings of the floods of Le Port-Marly, located near Paris.

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French Modernism, modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism (art movement), R ...

and

painted bridges, trees and sailboats at

Argenteuil Argenteuil () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Argenteuil is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise Departments of France, ...

located in the northwestern suburbs of Paris. And van Gogh and others painted the Seine.

Paintings

Longing for tranquil settings, van Gogh began to paint beyond the city fortifications and along the banks of the

, in Asnières and the island of Grand Jatte. He experimented with a lighter, more colorful palette than used in his early Dutch paintings or ''Montmartre'' series.

Paris

Upon arriving in Paris in March 1886, the

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

was the first placed van Gogh visited, directly after exiting the train. In late 1886 he writes of his interest in

, yet not quite "joined the club". His intention, he says, is to use vivid color and not greys. In 1886, he did twelve landscapes, "frankly green frankly blue" uch as ''Lane at the Jardin du Luxembourg''as he struggled "for life and progress in art". It was in July 1886 that his brother Theo began to notice changes in Vincent's paintings and noted Parisian artists began swapping paintings with him.

''Pont du Carrousel with Louvre''

''Pont du Carrousel with Louvre'' depicts the bridge that crosses the Seine named Pont du Carrousel and behind it the

. Pont de Carrousel is a bridge that leads to the Louvre which is accessed through "guichets" du Carrousel and guichets du Louvre. Guichets are gates and commonly used for the passages into the Louvre. The Louvre was built about 1200 as a fortress. In the 14thcentury the Louvre was expanded to a residence for Charles V. The old fortress was removed in the 16thcentury replaced by a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

palace which was expanded over the years. It is now one of the world's most important museums, its collections starting from works held by the kings of France.

''Lane at the Jardin du Luxembourg''

''Lane at the Jardin du Luxembourg'' is situated in the

gardens A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

of the Palais Luxembourg. The Palais Luxembourg was built in 1615 for

Marie de' Medici Marie de' Medici (; ; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV. Marie served as regent of France between 1610 and 1617 during the minority of her son Louis XIII. Her mandate as rege ...

, widow of Henry IV, on the grounds of the mansion of François de Luxembourg, duc de Piney, that she purchased in 1612. She did not feel at home at the Louvre and desired to live in a place that reminded her of her homeland,

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. During the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

the palace was overtaken and became a state prison. In 1795 it became the site of the first Directory and then the seat of the

senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. The Luxembourg Gardens are now a public park and a place of respite for residents and visitors of Paris. Among the treed grounds are fountains and statues. The painting also named ''Terrace in the Luxembourg Garden'' depicts a spring day in the park. Here Van Gogh has begun to leverage what he has learned about

, color and light. Thick brushstrokes foretell his evolving style. The remoteness with which the painting was made is typical of an Impressionist's approach.

Pont de Clichy, near Asnières

Van Gogh remained anxious and lonely during his first year in Paris, but with the spring in 1887 he began to explore outside of central Paris for more pastoral settings. From Rue Lepic in Montmartre van Gogh took the

Boulevard de Clichy The Boulevard de Clichy () is a famous street of Paris, which lends its name to the Place de Clichy, resulted from the fusion, in 1864, of the roads that paralleled the Wall of the Farmers-General, both inside and out. It extends from the Place ...

to the southern banks of the Seine in the old Commune de Clichy. Beyond that was Asnières and La Grand Jatte island, also the scene of van Gogh's paintings of the Seine.

''The Seine with the Pont de Clichy''

Of making ''The Seine with the Pont de Clichy'', also named ''Bridges of Asnières'' (F303), van Gogh wrote, "I've been worried by the sunset with figures and a bridge that I spoke of to Bernard. The bad weather prevented me working on the spot and I’ve completely ruined it trying to finish it at home. However I began again at once, the same subject on another canvas, but as the weather was quite different, in grey tones and without figures."

''Gate in the Paris Ramp''

In one of van Gogh's early works of Porte de Clichy, one of the city gates into Paris, ''Gate in the Paris ramp, 1886'' (F1401), image not shown, van Gogh began to experiment with adding brighter, contrasting colors to his paintings. Porte de Clichy is one of entrances through the

fortifications of Paris A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

, 30kilometers in length, that surround the city. In the summer of 1887 he produced four watercolors of these city defences. In making this painting van Gogh sketched the ramparts while making note of the colors that he wished to use, such as violet for the left wall and yellow for the right one. van Gogh also made a watercolor painting of ''The Fortifications of Paris with Houses'' also known as ''The Ramparts of Paris'' in 1887. File:Van Gogh - Seineufer bei der Pont de Clichy.jpeg, ''Banks of the Seine with the Pont de Clichy''
1887

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. The art collection is known particularly for ...

, London (F302) File:Van Gogh - Seineufer im Frühling an der Pont de Clichy.jpeg, ''River Bank in Springtime'' also ''Banks of the Seine with the Pont de Clichy''
1887
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas (F352)

Asnières

Asnières (pronounced /a-nee-air/), now named

Asnières-sur-Seine Asnières-sur-Seine () is a Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department and Île-de-France Regions of France, region of north-central France. It lies on the left bank of the river Seine, some eight kilometr ...

, is a town in the northern suburbs of Paris located on the banks of the Seine and near the

. In the 19thcentury Parisians took a short train ride to Asnières for boating, including rowing meets; festivals; and the "unrestrained atmosphere" of its dances. Van Gogh and Bernard often painted together "

". Vincent wrote to his sister Wil, "While painting at Asnières, I saw more colors than I have ever seen before." Instead of working in the somber colors of his early work, van Gogh embraced the use of color and light of the Impressionists. Influenced by

and

, van Gogh modified his traditional style and used vivid color, shorter brushstrokes and perspective to engage the viewer. His views of the banks of the Seine are an important progression for his later landscape paintings. In Asnières, within walking distance of Theo's flat in Montmartre, van Gogh painted parks, cafés, restaurants and the river.

''The Seine with the Pont de la Grande Jatte''

''The Seine with the Pont de la Grande Jatte'' (F304) is a painting made by van Gogh of a favored area on the Seine near Asnières. It was made during a period where he explored the use of "dots" of paint set alongside contrasting colors, influenced by

. In 1885 Seurat made ''

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte ''A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte'' () was painted from 1884 to 1886 and is Georges Seurat's most famous work. A leading example of pointillist technique, executed on a large canvas, it is a founding work of the neo-impress ...

'' with a technique of placing colored dots on a work which led a movement called "

Neo-Impressionism Neo-Impressionism is a term coined by French art critic Félix Fénéon in 1886 to describe an art movement founded by Georges Seurat. Seurat's most renowned masterpiece, '' A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte'', marked the begin ...

", "

Divisionism Divisionism, also called chromoluminarism, is the characteristic style in Neo-Impressionist painting defined by the separation of colors into individual dots or patches that interact optically..Homer, William I. ''Seurat and the Science of Pain ...

" and "

". Van Gogh was one of the artists later called "Post-Impressionists" who was influenced by Seurat's style that rejected realism and idealism to create a new genre based upon abstraction and simplicity. Van Gogh learned from Seurat the beauty in simplicity and a means to convey messages in a more optimistic, light way than his work in the

. While he could not match Seurat's precision, aspects of Pointillism were integrated into van Gogh's work.

''Bank of the Seine''

In ''Bank of the Seine'' (F293) van Gogh uses Pointillism in the small dots for the trees, larger dots in the sky and dashes for water. Impressionism is harnessed to create light and reflection of the water.

''Bridges across the Seine at Asnières''

''Bridges across the Seine at Asnières'' (F301) was painted in open air and bright sunlight. The scene depicts railway bridges over the river. Van Gogh uses light and reflection effectively in this painting. The stone piers of the bridge are reflected in the water and white paint is used for highlights. A woman dressed in pink with a red parasol are the focal point of the composition. The painting is part of a group of suburban landscapes along with a painting in Oxford, both of which he had placed in red frames. Van Gogh found this setting through his friend Émile Bernard whom he met when studying with Cormon. Over the two years that Van Gogh was in Paris 886—1887Van Gogh made several paintings of bridges crossing the Seine.

''Walk Along the Banks of the Seine Near Asnières''

''Walk Along the Banks of the Seine Near Asnières'' also called ''Riverbank at Asnières'' (F299) illustrates van Gogh's technique of using "short, rapid strokes of color the capture the atmosphere of a particular place", something he used with other paintings along the Seine. File:Van Gogh - Seinebrücke bei Asnières.jpeg, ''The Seine Bridge at Asnières''
Summer, 1887
Private collection (F240) File:Van Gogh - Spaziergang am Ufer der Seine bei Asnières.jpeg, ''Walk Along the Banks of the Seine Near Asnières''
June–July, 1887

Van Gogh Museum The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opened o ...

, Amsterdam (F299) File:Van Gogh - Badeboot an der Seine bei Asnières.jpeg, ''Bathing Float on the Seine at Asnières''
Summer, 1887
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia (F311)

Row boats

Watercraft rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically att ...

, called "le rowing" by the French, was a sport picked up from the English and became popular by the 1880s. Clubs and competitions were established for amateur sportsmen to meet on the Seine. Van Gogh's friend John Russell was an avid participant in local competitions. In the summer of 1887 they often met at Theo's apartment on Rue Lepic where Russell was shown Vincent's paintings of boats, bridges and islands along the Seine, which with Russell's interest in rowing may have been inspiration for his paintings of the Seine at

Bougival Bougival () is a suburban commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is located west from the centre of Paris, on the left bank of the River Seine, on the departmental border with Hauts-de-Seine. In ...

and

Le Pecq Le Pecq () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the center of Paris. Geography The commune of Le Pecq is located in a loop of the Se ...

. File:Van Gogh - Die Seine mit Ruderboot.jpeg, ''The Seine with a Rowing Boat'' (b/w copy)
1887
Museum of Western and Oriental Art, Kyiv (F298) File:Van Gogh - Seineufer mit Booten.jpeg, ''The Banks of the Seine with Boats'' (b/w copy)
1887
Museum of Western and Oriental Art, Kyiv (F353) File:Vincent van Gogh - Les canots amarrés.jpg, View of a River with Rowing Boats 1887 Private collection (F300)

References

{{Vincent van Gogh, state=collapsedo 1887 paintings 1880s paintings Paintings of Paris by Vincent van Gogh Series of paintings by Vincent van Gogh Paintings in Chicago River Seine in art

Background

The Netherlands

Paris

The Seine

Paintings

Paris

''Pont du Carrousel with Louvre''

''Lane at the Jardin du Luxembourg''

Pont de Clichy, near Asnières

''The Seine with the Pont de Clichy''

''Gate in the Paris Ramp''

Asnières

''The Seine with the Pont de la Grande Jatte''

''Bank of the Seine''

''Bridges across the Seine at Asnières''

''Walk Along the Banks of the Seine Near Asnières''

Row boats

See also

References