L'aqueduc d' Avignon Circa 1900

This original etching was created circa 1900 by the American-born French artist Frank Myers Boggs. It depicts the celebrated Pont Saint-Bénézet, commonly known as the Pont d’Avignon, with its surviving medieval arches extending across the Rhône.

Boggs presents the historic bridge from the water, its massive stone structure silhouetted against the city’s towers and a turbulent sky. Reflections in the river and sweeping clouds give the otherwise architectural subject a strong sense of atmosphere and movement.

The monochrome composition is constructed through energetic lines, dense shading and expressive tonal contrasts. Dark passages along the river and bridge are balanced by the luminous opening in the sky, recalling the spontaneity and richness of Boggs’s charcoal drawings and watercolours.

Frank Myers Boggs (1855–1926) studied under Jean-Léon Gérôme at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Celebrated for his views of ports, rivers, bridges and historic European cities, he developed an atmospheric style influenced by the changing effects of water and weather.

This original print is a fine example of Boggs’s work as a draughtsman and printmaker. Its dramatic view of Avignon, architectural interest and expressive turn-of-the-century character will appeal to collectors of French landscapes, historic bridges and works on paper.

Original Poster

Landscape - Vaucluse - France

It depicts a view of the famous Saint-Bénézet bridge in Avignon, dominated by the Palais des Papes in the background on the left

Good condition, creases visible