André Wilder

Born in Paris in 1871, Wilder embarked on a career of landscape painting precisely at a time when this genre was being revolutionized. As a pupil of the academic painter Jean Léon Gérôme, he received an education in historical painting. However, Wilder was encouraged to interpret his teachings and was thus given the freedom to experiment with an Impressionistic style. While influenced by the technique of Monet and Sisley, Wilder was particularly impressed by the style of Maufra upon their introduction in 1895 in Brittany and their painterly aesthetics are most notably comparable. Painted in 1910, Bateaux sur la Seine reflects Wilder’s years of painting outdoors and focuses on everyday modern life in a city. To depict variation of lights on the water, buildings, and traffic on the bridge the artist incorporated a vibrant Impressionistic technique applying varying tones of purple, blue gray and green. Bateaux sur la Seine captures a fleeting  moment of light embodying the ideals of Impressionism.