We look down on a few dozen people walking along the sidewalks of a wide, sunlit bridge in this almost square painting. The scene is loosely painted, which gives it a hazy, sun-dappled look and makes some details indistinct. The people wear black, white, light blue, or pale green jackets and pants or long dresses as they walk in all directions. Some wear hats, and a few women carry parasols. The bridge opens into a wide boulevard close to us, as the sidewalks angle into the lower corners of the composition. Several horse-drawn carriages move across the bridge alongside the people. The deck of the oyster-white bridge is lined with black gas lamps. The river beneath shimmers with lapis and turquoise blue. The far side is packed with four and five-story buildings, which are mostly tan with rows of windows painted as blue rectangles. The rooflines bristle with chimneys. Another structure or boat sits on the water near the lower right corner of the painting, and a flag with vertical bands of red, white, and blue flies from a flagpole there. Opposite the flag, on the far bank, is a statue of a man on a horse, both on a tall plinth. The horizon comes about halfway up the composition, and the azure-blue sky above is dotted with puffy white clouds tinged with dove gray and mauve. The artist signed and dated the lower left, “A. Renoir. 72.”

Auguste Renoir, Pont Neuf, Paris, 1872, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.58

L’esprit Parisien

Sunday, September 8, 2024
3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
West Building, West Garden Court

Performances
In-person
Registration Required

Experience the sounds of Paris and imagine what might have been heard by viewers of the first Impressionist Salon in 1874. L’esprit Parisien will fill our garden courts with tunes familiar and surprising while you walk through the galleries on opening day of the Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment exhibition.

Between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m., listen for impromptu performances in and near the exhibition galleries featuring such musical favorites as “La Vie en Rose” and “Under Paris Skies”. At 3:30 p.m., enjoy a full performance in the West Garden Court by string quartet, accordion, and bass in works by Faure, Debussy, and Ravel—pivotal composers of this era—and other works with a Parisien flair.

Led by violinist Luke Wedge, L’esprit Parisien includes violinist Regino Madrid, violist Matthew Maffett, cellist Danielle Cho, bassist Jonathan Davies, and Frank Busso on accordion.

Program for the 3:30 p.m. concert

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924), (arr. Torotolano)
Overture from Masques et Bergamasques (1919)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Third movement (Andantino, doucement expressif) from Quartet (1892)

Stephen Koncz (b. 1984)
A New Satiesfaction (2018), featuring Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie no. 1

Richard Galliano (b, 1950)
Tango pour Claude (2006)

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Second movement (Assez vif—très rhythm) from Quartet (1903)

Galliano
Fou Rire

John Lennon (1940-1980)/Paul McCartney (b. 1942), (arr. Wedge)
“Michelle” and “Your Mother Should Know”

Ravel
Fourth movement (Vif et agité) from Quartet (1903)

Program subject to change