The Bridge
ca. 1880
Medium
Oil on gilt leather
Dimensions
10 x 26 3/4 in. (25.4 x 67.9 cm)
Classification
Painting
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of George A. Hearn, 1909
Accession Number
09.72.8
Tags
Art Historical Context
Albert Pinkham Ryder's *The Bridge* (ca. 1880) captures the moody essence of American Romantic in a compact horizontal format measuring just 10 x 26 3/4 inches. This oil painting on gilt leather depicts a solitary bridge spanning a misty landscape, evoking a sense of quiet introspection and the sublime power of nature. Ryder, reclusive New England artist (1847–1917), drew inspiration from the Hudson River School while infusing his works with Symbolist dreaminess, using thick impasto layers and slow-drying pigments to build ethereal textures and glowing effects. The unconventional medium of gi...
About the Artist
Albert Pinkham Ryder · 1847–1917
Largely self-taught, Albert Pinkham Ryder is widely considered one of America's greatest visionary painters. His intense use of color and mysterious themes are distinctly Romantic. Ryder moved with his family from New Bedford, Massachusetts to New York in 187, where he studied briefly at the New York National Academy of Design. He studied the engravings of Camille Corot and other Barbizon painters...