Jean François Raffaëlli, French, 1850-1924
Title: The Alexander III Bridge, Paris
Date: 1910
Medium: Oil on paper laid on canvas
Dimensions:
73 x 93 cm
Signed: lower right: J.F. Raffaëlli
Credit Line: Presented, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, 1953
Object Number: NGI.1257
DescriptionRaffaëlli was a Realist painter and printmaker. Much of his early work focused on the suburbs of Paris. From the 1890s he turned his attention to the city’s grand boulevards and often painted in a reconditioned coach (known as a fiacre). Not only did this give him excellent vantage points but it also helped him to work inconspicuously in public spaces. This autumnal scene shows the ornate Alexander III Bridge, newly constructed for the Exposition Universelle (1900). Raffaëlli has used sketchy strokes, dots, and dashes of paint to convey the liveliness of the modern city.
Exhibition HistoryFrench 19th and 20th Century Paintings from the National Gallery of Ireland: Corot to Picasso, Daimaru Museum, Tokyo, 5 September-17 September 1996; Daimaru Museum, Kyoto, 10 October-22 October 1996; Kawaguchiko Museum of Art, Yamanashi, 26 October-2 December 1996; Daimaru Museum, Umeda,Osaka, 22 January-9 February 1997; Aomori Municpal Gallery of Art, Aomori, 2 April-20 April 1997
Chester Beatty: The Paintings, Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, 7 September 2012 - 31 August 2013; The Hunt Museum, Limerick, 1 February - 30 March 2014
Chester Beatty: The Paintings, Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, 7 September 2012 - 31 August 2013; The Hunt Museum, Limerick, 1 February - 30 March 2014
Label TextRaffaëlli was a Realist painter and printmaker. Much of his early work focused on the suburbs of Paris. From the 1890s, he turned his attention to the city’s grand boulevards and often painted in a reconditioned coach (known as a fiacre). Not only did this give him excellent vantage points but it also helped him to work inconspicuously in public spaces. This autumnal scene shows the ornate Alexander III Bridge, newly constructed for the Exposition Universelle (1900). Raffaëlli has used sketchy strokes, dots, and dashes of paint to convey the liveliness of the modern city.