Lepecq Chemin Des ImpressionnistesThe town of Le Pecq is waiting for you! Learn more about the history of the commune. Let us guide you in the footsteps of pre- or post-Impressionist artists in Le Pecq such as William Turner, Maurice de Vlaminck and Maurice Denis.
We invite you to follow the trail to learn more about the works of the Impressionist movement, its precursors and its heirs. Take advantage of this walk to explore all the Impressionist paths that dot Saint Germain Boucles de Seine.
On 24 August 1837, France’s first passenger line was created: the Paris – Saint-Germain line. For 10 years, the station was set up in Le Pecq before the line actually reached Saint-Germain. This innovation led to a number of changes in the town, including the construction of two large bridges over the Seine and a very long viaduct. The station was located, on the banks of the Seine, at the corner of Route Royale n°190 and Quai de l’Orme de Sully.
In addition to the change in the urban landscape, it was an economic and social transformation that took place in the town of Le Pecq at this time.
In fact, the station would provide connections with steamboats heading for Rouen, as well as an omnibus link to Saint-Germain.
Then, from 1878 until around 1923, bateaux-mouches appeared, and in particular Le Touriste and La Madelon. These provided a regular service between Paris and Le Pecq, allowing tourists to admire the banks of the Seine.
The station was demolished in 1896 and with it came the end of the various activities linked to maritime transport, right up to the present day!
Yvelines Adassma76 TThere have been many bridges in the town of Le Pecq, enabling people to cross the Seine and reach the royal town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye from Paris.
Successively, three wooden bridges were built over the Seine between 1627 and 1830. The first, known as the Pont Marie de Médicis, 195 m long, collapsed under the pressure of ice on 9 January 1637. The second bridge was opened in 1649. It was burnt down three years later by the Prince de Condé’s troops during the Fronde. The third bridge was built around 1665. In January 1830, the ice swept away this 175-year-old bridge.
It was replaced by a new structure built further downstream, in the continuity of the road from Paris to Saint-Germain, which at the time crossed the forest of Le Vésinet.
This was destroyed this time directly by the Prussians during the siege of Paris in 1870.
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View from the terrace Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Le Pecq accessible by RER AThe two current bridges linking the two banks of Le Pecq
Finally, the last and current Le Pecq bridge was inaugurated on 31 December 1963. When it was inaugurated, this bridge was located in the Seine-et-Oise department, whose name evoked two rivers. These are symbolised by two monumental five-metre-long sculptures in Roman travertine, the work of sculptor René Letourneur (1898 – 1990). In addition to their aesthetic appeal, the statues previously had a practical function consisting, due to their weight, of creating a vertical thrust counterbalancing the horizontal thrust of the span.
The other bridge at Le Pecq is a railway bridge that crosses the Seine above Ile Corbière and the park of the same name located on the opposite bank, Parc Corbière. This large, relaxing park is very popular with residents and visitors to Le Pecq. It’s an ideal place to have fun with all the family, with its playground and mini-farm in particular.
The Post-Impressionists incorporated the labour of the time into their landscapes of the banks of the Seine
One of Joseph Mallord William Turner’s passions was his travels in Europe, acting as a stimulus to his art. They gave rise to hundreds of sketches and watercolours. He devoted seven of the ten trips he made to Europe between 1802 and 1832 to the Seine. The Seine thus became a fertile source of inspiration for William Turner. However, he also produced his views of the Seine in response to commissions for tourist books and travel brochures.
Turner rarely painted “from the motif” unlike the Impressionists. In fact, he preferred to recompose the nuances of landscapes in the studio, aided by his colour memory.
William Turner painted his picture View of the Château of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, around 1829/1830. It incorporates a bridge that had already been destroyed at the time. Indeed, this bridge would have disappeared in 1830 and then been rebuilt between 1832 and 1835. Turner would therefore have reinstated it in his setting thanks to sketches made during one of his last trips.
In his work he also evokes the labour of the time, which came into being with the arrival of the train and port activity. He illustrates them with the unloading of goods by men on land and the washerwomen bustling about in the foreground.
Chemin des Impressionnistes in Le PecqMaurice de Vlaminck and André Derain met in Chatou, near Paris, in 1904. They set up their studio in what is now the Galerie Bessières on the first floor of the Maison Levanneur. “In their landscapes, the two artists described the reality of their time. For them, the banks of the Seine were no longer a place of leisure as with the Impressionist painters, but a place of toil.” Centre Pompidou.
Vlaminck produced the majority of his works in the Seine valley between Chatou, Rueil-Malmaison and the surrounding area. Indeed, as his income did not really allow him to travel, he remained mainly in the Paris region. Primarily a landscape painter, he also drew his inspiration from the bridges and banks of the Seine. Silhouettes sometimes enliven his landscapes, which are often devoid of any human presence. The constituent elements of his decors are generally linked to working the land and river navigation.
