The Coalmen

The bridge in the foreground is the road bridge at Asnières, and the Clichy bridge can just be made out in the grey haze of the background. A scene showing labourers is unusual in Monet's oeuvre. The Seine here is not the light-hearted setting for regattas, but the river plied by heavy barges. The banks are lined not with trees, but smoking chimneys. Sunday strollers have given way to workers unloading coal from the barges to supply the nearby factory.