1850
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Petit Pont, Paris is a 1850 by Charles Meryon, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a detailed image of a Parisian scene with boats on the Seine River. The boats are bateaux-lavoirs, or wash boats, where laundresses could do their washing. This was a common sight in 19th century Paris. The artist was fascinated by the city's transformation and the daily life of its people. Check out the work of artist Charles Meryon to see more of his detailed city scenes.
Charles Meryon used etching—a technique that involves drawing on a printing plate with a needle’s point—to create minutely detailed images of Paris that imaginatively present recognizable sites. This print features bateaux-lavoirs (wash boats) on the Seine River, where laundresses could purchase a spot to do their washing. The boats appealed to Meryon, who was fascinated by Paris’s gradual transformation. Since they attracted crowds of working-class women, administrators considered the boats unsightly and unhygienic, repeatedly pushing them closer to the city’s outskirts until few remained by…
Charles Meryon described this print as his first original etching.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Charles Meryon (sometimes Méryon, 23 November 1821 – 14 February 1868) was a French artist who worked almost entirely in etching, as he had colour blindness.
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