Take One Picture Sir John Lavery The Bridge at Grez

The Bridge at Grez (1901)

Sir John Lavery 1856 - 1941

Lets look carefully at the whole painting for just one minute

It might help to ask the children to look at what they see in the background, foreground and middle-distance.

How long did that feel?

1. Far, far too long
2. Like one minute
3. Really quick
4. Like about 5 minutes

A minute is a long time to spend in front of a painting!  10 seconds is an approximate average time spent in front of paintings in museums.

Now let's see what you remember
In the boat there are...
(more than one answer may be correct)

1. Two women
2. A man and a woman
3. Oars
4. A dog

There are two women and two oars.

The person on the right is sometimes mistaken for a man because of the shirt and (possible) tie, however the hat, tiny waist and even the collared shirt are all women's fashion from 1901.  

Note how he oars are pulled up so the boat can drift through the arch of the bridge.

Why is half the boat white and half the boat grey?

The boat is in half in the shadow cast by the bridge. Strong contrasts of light and  shadow let us know there is sunshine.

What is wrong?

The painting is upside-down so we are in a watery world.  Disorientating!

The season seems to be...

1. Mid-winter
2. Spring
3. High summer
4. Late summer, early autumn

Going by the weather it looks like summer but going by the colours in the trees reflected in the water - early autumn. Probably late summer, early autumn. 

 

To paint the water Lavery has

1. painted in tiny dots
2. blended the colours smoothly together so you cannot see any brushmarks
3. used brushstrokes that go from side-to-side
4. used brushstrokes that mostly go up and down

Most of the brush marks go from side to side.

The brush-marks are mostly from side-to-side to give the impression of watery ripples

I know the sun is shining because..
(There may be more than one answer)

1. I can see the sun in the sky
2. I can see blue sky reflected in the water
3. I can see shadows,
4. I can see the sunlight catching on the trees and boat

The sun itself is not visible, but the blue sky can be seen in the reflection  in the water.

Sunshine catches on the leaves in the foreground an the tree trunks on the shore.

How do you think the artist was feeling when he painted this picture?

Try different suggestions - anxious, relaxed, happy. sad, uncomfortable, in love...

We know he was on holiday and the place, Grez-sur-Loing, was where he had spent some of tthe happiest days in his life as an art student.

Here are two more pictures of the same village, Grez-sur-Loing.  What landmark can you spot?

Which painting do you think is called 'Autumnal Sorrows'?

Guess which of the paintings is by Lavery?

The painting on the left is an earlier painting by Lavery 'Under the Cherry Tree'  1884, painted in the garden of the small hotel he and other artists stayed in.

The one on the right 'Autumnal Sorrows' 1878 is by another Irish artist - Frank O'Meara, a friend of Lavery's.

This is John Lavery on holiday in one of his favourite places.  Enjoy!

Grez sur Loing was a village outside Paris where artists spent summers.  He said that his student summers in Grez were the happiest times of his life.  This was painted years later when he was an established artist and stayed in Grez on holiday.