Image: public domain, courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago

Fishing in Spring, the Pont de Clichy (Asnières)

Vincent van Gogh, 1887

A man sits fishing in a small rowboat on the Seine near Paris, under fresh spring branches, with a long bridge behind him. Van Gogh painted it with many small strokes of pure, bright colour, a new way of painting he learned from Seurat and Signac.

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Did you know?

Asnières was a suburb on the Seine just north-west of Paris, popular for boating and weekend outings.
Van Gogh painted there in 1887 alongside his friend, the painter Paul Signac.
From Signac and Georges Seurat he took the idea of small strokes of pure colour that mix in the viewer's eye.
Van Gogh lived in Paris for only about two years, from 1886 to 1888.
This painting was once one of a set of three meant to hang together, and in 2023 the three were reunited at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
Look for the two small rowboats under the branches and the wide arched bridge across the river behind them.

About the artist

Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) was born in the Netherlands and worked there, in Paris, in the south of France at Arles and Saint-Rémy, and finally at Auvers-sur-Oise.

In only about ten years as an artist he created hundreds of vibrant paintings, among them Sunflowers, The Starry Night, Irises and The Bedroom.

He wrote more than 800 letters, most of them to his beloved brother Theo, full of warmth and of his joy in color and nature.

Vincent van Gogh ›

Where it is today: The Art Institute of Chicago · Museum page