Musée d’Orsay · 1874
The Railway Bridge at Argenteuil
Claude Monet
Monet paints a modern iron railway bridge and a plume of steam with the same reverence earlier painters gave cathedrals, treating industrial progress as a genuinely beautiful, paintable subject.
Why it matters
Monet paints a modern iron railway bridge and a plume of steam with the same reverence earlier painters gave cathedrals, treating industrial progress as a genuinely beautiful, paintable subject.
Look closer
Follow the trail of steam from the passing train as it dissolves into the sky — Monet paints smoke with the same loose brushwork he uses for clouds.
Monet painted this exact bridge motif several times; a related version sold for over $41 million at auction in 2008, making this subject one of his most sought-after.
Value context
ELYIO places this work in an indicative editorial context of €35–45 million.
The museum work is not for sale. This is ELYIO indicative context—not an appraisal, insurance value or offer.