The Red Bridge


The Red Bridge is a late 19th-century painting by American artist Julian Alden Weir. Done in oil on canvas, Red Bridge has been cited as an excellent example of Weir's Japanese-inspired style of impression. The painting is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Description

The Red Bridge was painted by Weir as an impressionist work; the artist had previously been a detractor of impressionism. The bridge depicted in the painting was a then-new iron truss bridge built over the Shetucket River in Windham, Connecticut. Weir initially viewed the bridge with distaste - it had replaced an older covered bridge he was fond of - but eventually chose to painting a picture of it.
According to the Met, the painting is one of the few American impressionist painting to refer to industrialization.