The Pont Neuf
1849–50
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
21 1/2 x 32 1/8 in. (54.6 x 81.6 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Mendelsohn, 1980
Accession Number
1980.203.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
Johan Barthold Jongkind’s “The Pont Neuf,” created between 1849 and 1850, offers a tranquil view of Paris oldest standing bridge spanning the Seine. in oil on canvas, the modest-sized work (21 ½ by 32 ⅛ inches) depicts the familiar urban scene with boats gliding beneath the bridge’s arches and the gentle flow of the river. The tags—bridges, rivers, boats, and Paris—underscore its focus on the city’s daily rhythms rather than grand spectacle. In the mid-nineteenth century, Paris was rapidly modernizing, and the Pont Neuf remained a vital link between the city’s historic core and its expanding ...
About the Artist
Johan Barthold Jongkind
Johan Barthold Jongkind (1819–1891) was born on June 3 in the rural village of Lattrop, in the Netherlands' Overijssel province, and emerged as a pivotal figure bridging Dutch landscape traditions with the dawn of Impressionism. He began his formal training at The Hague's art academy under the esteemed landscape painter Andreas Schelfhout, whose influence rooted Jongkind in the meticulous depictio...