The Railway Bridge at Chatou

By 1881 the railway had turned Chatou, a bend of the Seine just west of Paris, into a Sunday escape. Day-trippers came out to row, to eat at the riverside restaurants, to sit under the trees. Renoir knew the spot well, having just painted the boating crowd nearby at the Maison Fournaise. Here he turns away from the people and paints the season instead. The iron railway bridge that carried those visitors out from the city is pushed to the back, nearly buried behind a screen of pink-flowering chestnuts, which is why the canvas is also called The Pink Chestnut Trees. The machine that made the outing possible almost vanishes into the blossom. The painting later belonged to the painter Gustave Caillebotte, a friend from the Impressionist circle, and it came to the state through the bequest he left, which is how it reached the Musee d'Orsay.