Le Pont de l’Europe (or The Bridge of Europe) is by Gustave Caillebotte, who was born on August 19 of 1848 in Paris. He was known as an impressionist, though his work certainly has a realist flair to it! His passion was to portray what he saw as he saw it, without dramatizing it as so many artists have done. He wanted his viewers to understand the life of real people, particularly in Paris. He employed the use of striking perspective in his paintings, and in such a way that the viewer is placed in a position to feel like part of the painting. The viewer can understand the life of the subjects as though he is living alongside them. Le Pont de l’Europe is an example of this; just imagine yourself standing there on the bridge, walking down the road behind that trotting dog! The composition makes it so easy to enter into the moment.
Below is Paris Street, Rainy Day, which also pulls the viewer right into the moment of the scene.
