087

  • Pont Neuf

  • Late 19th century
  • Albert Charles Lebourg (French 1829-1906)
  • Oil on wood panel
  • 22.2 x 27.0 cm., 8-7/8 x 10-5/8"
  • Lent Courtesy of Private Collection through Catherine Carter Goebel, Paul A. Anderson Chair in the Arts

Essay by Elizabeth Jakaitis, Class of 2014

Impressionism, originating in Paris and rising to prominence in the 1870s and 1880s, is characterized by visible brushstrokes, ordinary subject matter, unusual visual angles, and emphasis on light and movement. Albert Charles Lebourg (1849-1928) is recognized as a French Impressionist for his skilled use of these techniques in his paintings. His early interest was architecture, but he developed a passion for art that flourished under the tutelage of the landscape painter, Victor Delamarre (1811-1868). Lebourg decided to give up architecture and enrolled in the École Municipale de Peinture et de Dessin in Rouen under Gustave Morin (1809-1886). He obtained the post of professor of drawing at the Société des Beaux-Arts in Algiers and remained there from 1872 to 1877. Here he began experimenting with depicting a single site in a variety of different lights, in a manner similar to works by Claude Monet (1840-1926) (Lebourg askart).

In 1877, Lebourg left Algeria and returned to Paris where he studied in the atelier of Jean-Paul Laurens for two years. It was here that he became aware of Impressionism and became friendly with Edgar Degas (1834-1917), Claude Monet and Alfred Sisley (1839-1899) (Lebourg FADA). The influence that this exposure to Impressionism had on his art is visible in his painting of the Pont Neuf, the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris. The informal vantage point Lebourg used in this work creates the impression that we are viewing the bridge through trees that line the bank of the river. It is seemingly an ordinary day with just a few people visible on the Pont Neuf. Lebourg's impressionistic brushstrokes blur the scene like an out-of-focus camera lens. Through this effect, we are given the sense of a moment that was captured in time but quickly moved on with the people bustling across the bridge.

Lebourg first exhibited his work at the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français in 1883 and again in 1886. Three years later he began exhibiting at the foundation of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and exhibited there regularly from 1891 to 1914. Lebourg spent several years living and working in the Auvergne region and northern France before continuing his travels in the Netherlands and then Britain. His time spent in Britain confirmed his love of works by Romantic landscape painters such as Joseph Mallord William Turner, John Constable (web gallery 67), and Thomas Gainsborough. Lebourg continued working in a lucid Impressionist style up until 1921 when he was paralyzed by a stroke.