New Bridge 

Edouard Cortes likely made this painting of the New Bridge in Paris with oil paints on canvas. The texture is quite loose and open, with lots of expressive brushwork; he’s really trying to capture a feeling and a sense of place, not to give you photographic detail. It's interesting to think of oil paint as a manufactured material; the pigment had to be mined or produced through chemistry, then mixed with linseed oil. Consider the labor involved in making all of those paints. The canvas, too, would have been prepared with layers of gesso. Cortes was part of a generation of artists who made a career of depicting Paris as a modern, vibrant city. The painting is as much about the infrastructure of urban life – the bridge itself, the street lamps, the horse-drawn carriages – as it is about the people passing by. It's a celebration of Parisian life, but also a product of it, made possible by the city's industry and commerce. So next time you look at a painting, remember that it’s not just about the image, but also about the materials and processes that brought it into being.