Chemin de fer de Toulouse à Bayonne. Pont de l'Aran (en trois arches de 17m d'ouverture chacune). Situation des travaux au 21 juillet 1861

1861

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Dominant colour

Chemin de fer de Toulouse à Bayonne. Pont de l'Aran (en trois arches de 17m d'ouverture chacune). Situation des travaux au 21 juillet 1861 is a 1861 by Édouard Baldus, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Édouard Baldus
When & what style?: 1861 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a black-and-white photo of a half-built stone bridge with three tall arches over a dry riverbed. Baldus didn’t just take a pretty picture—he was hired by the railroad to show progress. The photo is part of a whole series that maps the new tracks cutting through southern France. You can almost hear the chisels and see the dust. If you like this kind of straight-up record-keeping, look up the museum: The Cleveland Museum of Art.

The story of this work

Overview

Edouard Baldus, the most important French 19th-century architectural photographer, here reveals the process of constructing a bridge. In 1861 he was commissioned by the railway company that owned the principal route across southwest France to document the region’s landscape, towns, monuments, and railroad structures such as bridges and viaducts.