Covered Bridge Newry Maine

by Alana Ranney

Title

Covered Bridge Newry Maine

Artist

Alana Ranney

Medium

Photograph - Fine Art Photography

Description

The Sunday River Covered Bridge, commonly called the Artist’s Bridge.

The bridge, built in 1872, is a 100-foot structure that spans the Sunday River in western Newry. The unnamed artist is John Enneking, one of America’s first impressionists. Before Enneking became a painter, he was Union soldier in the Civil War, who was captured and held as a prisoner of war. After the war ended, he relocated to Boston and threw himself into his craft. He eventually became one of the first Americans to paint in Monet’s garden (which boasts its own singular overpass, the iconic Japanese bridge over the pond of water lilies).

Upon returning to the states, Enneking became a specialist in New England landscapes, rendering the mountains and bridges of the region in loose brushstrokes and rich hues. He was fond of Newry and came often to paint in plein air by the side of the bridge. He was seen working in the structure’s vicinity so often that passersby began referring to the Sunday River bridge as the Artist’s Bridge. Today, a hundred years after Enneking’s death, both his paintings and the name endure.

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June 18th, 2023

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