Bridge at Caracas

1854

Camille Pissarro

Associated Names
Camille Pissarro

Artist, French, born St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, 1830 - 1903

This painting shows an arched stone bridge spanning across a rocky green divide. Our perspective is low, and we look up at the bridge, seeing the people who cross it silhouetted against the pale sky and distant blue hills. A palm tree stands tall on the left side of the bridge, above a white building. On the right appears to be a large gray wall or fortress. Closer to us at the bottom of the scene, two small people are visible standing near the base of the bridge, between the green walls on either side. The brushstrokes are loose, giving an impressionistic feel to the landscape, with few details visible in the people or the structures. The color palette is warm and earthy, dominated by various shades of brown, ochre, and green blending softly.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.

Artwork overview


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(sale, Sotheby's, London, 1 May 1969, no. 272); purchased by (Hector Brame, Paris) for Paul Mellon [1907-1999]; gift 1985 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1980

  • Pissarro, Hayward Gallery, London; Grand Palais, Paris; and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1980-1981, no. 100, repro.

1986

  • Gifts to the Nation: Selected Acquisitions from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1986, unnumbered checklist.

2017

  • Pissarro. Between Danish Golden Age Painting and French Impressionism, Ordrupgaard, Copenhagen, 2017, unnumbered catalogue.

2025

  • The Honest Eye: Camille Pissarro's Impressionsim, Museum Barberini, Potsdam, Denver Art Museum, Denver, 2025-2026: no. 5, repro.

Bibliography

1980

  • Pissarro 1980, 100.

2025

  • Daneo, Angelica, and Snollaerts, Claire Durand-Ruel. The Honest Eye: Camille Pissarro's Impressionism. Exh. cat. Museum Barberini, Potsdam; Denver Art Museum, Denver, 2025-2026: no. 5, 52.

Inscriptions

recto: lower center in graphite: C. Pissarro .5 Janv. 54; verso: at upper left in graphite in later hand: 50; at lower right in graphite in later hand: 22

Markings

none

Watermarks

none

Wikidata ID

Q64537828

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