Literary and artistic heritage: the Impressionists
Literary and artistic heritage: the Impressionists
Six panels depicting the works of three undisputed masters of the Impressionist movement have been installed on the banks of the Seine so that visitors can rediscover them during a journey along the water. They have been placed close to where the artists painted their canvases two centuries ago. Painted in Asnières, these paintings have become masterpieces and most of them can now be seen in the world's great museums.
From the 1850s, Asnières became one of the favourite places for Parisians to entertain themselves.
The Château d’Asnières became a fashionable restaurant and lavish parties were held in its park. During this period, Asnières was also a favourite spot for canoeists and regattas.
Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Signac, Georges Seurat…
In 1891, Asnières had 19,575 inhabitants. Most of the housing was built around the old village, around the railway station and around rue Lehot.
Many artists chose the town as their place of residence or inspiration. Famous painters such as Van Gogh, Émile Bernard, Paul Signac, and Seurat were among them.
Asnières, partner of the Van Gogh Europe Foundation
"When I painted in Asnières, I saw more colours than I had ever seen before", said Vincent Van Gogh, who began to paint in our town in 1887. The Restaurant La Sirène, the Bridges over the Seine in Asnières, and the Entrance to the Voyer d'Argenson park in Asnières are just some of the many paintings the painter created here. In 2022, Asnières became part of the European Art Route, which brings together four countries: France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
Discover the new Van Gogh cultural itinerary
Asnières is fortunate to have in its collections a lithograph by Émile Bernard entitled Folklore Breton, dating from 1888.
Living in Asnières, Émile Bernard painted the area around his family home, notably Les chiffonniers: pont de fer à Asnières in 1887.
The following year, he met Gauguin again in Pont-Aven. Their collaboration gave rise to a new school of painting characterised by flat colours surrounded by dark outlines and shapes inspired by Japanese prints.
Focus on the Impressionist route
Six large scale reproductions of the works of three of the undisputed masters of the Impressionist movement have been installed on the banks of the Seine, so that visitors can rediscover them during a journey along the water.
They have been placed close to where the artists painted their canvases two centuries ago. Painted in Asnières, these paintings have become "masterpieces" and most of them can now be admired in the world's greatest museums.
The Paul Signac route
An innovative artist, Paul Signac painted around a hundred harbours in France and travelled to Italy and the Netherlands, making his work ideal for creating an active and unique network. Although he was born in Paris, his family were saddlers from Asnières, and he knew the area inside out. It was a bucolic environment that Signac loved to paint: he produced many works depicting the river banks, boats... in the company of his friends Georges Seurat, Vincent van Gogh...
