I have a watercolor sketch/ painting my dad made and would like to know the location in the drawing. Can someone tell me the location?
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8Can you give us some more details? Has he been around Europe and if so which countries? Was he in North America and if so do you know where?Willeke– Willeke ♦2025-02-03 19:50:21 +00:00Commented Feb 3 at 19:50
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35Google Lens returned a result of a painting by Bernard Buffet, 1962, "L'île Saint-Louis"Andrew T.– Andrew T.2025-02-04 09:04:01 +00:00Commented Feb 4 at 9:04
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7@AndrewT. So: bad news, it's not Jacqi's dad's painting (unless Jacqui is really Virginie, Danielle, or Nicolas). Potential good news: if it's a real original lithograph (signed and numbered) it could be worth a few thousand.jcaron– jcaron2025-02-04 16:22:27 +00:00Commented Feb 4 at 16:22
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4@jcaron a few thousand Swedish kroner, that is. Or just over 500 $ / €. Still not bad, thoughBerend– Berend2025-02-04 19:59:02 +00:00Commented Feb 4 at 19:59
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2@AndrewT. Since that's pretty much a definitive answer, why don't you post it as one?TooTea– TooTea2025-02-07 08:35:10 +00:00Commented Feb 7 at 8:35
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2 Answers
That’s pretty clearly Paris, somewhere on either of the two main islands (Île de la Cité and Île Saint-Louis).
I believe the view is from the Pont Saint-Louis (between the two islands), with the the Île Saint-Louis on the left, and the Pont de la Tournelle and the left bank in the background. Something close to this:
Some of the trees were removed since then. If you look at older Street View images from Quai d'Orléans around 2008 there were many more trees. They have replanted a few since then but they're of course quite small in comparison.
You don't see it on this picture because of construction works, but there are stairs on the right side of the bridge like on the painting.
The building with the scaffolding at the far right hosts the "La Tour d'Argent" restaurant.
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6Impressive indeed. Could you maybe add a small explanation how you found that? No particular reason, I'm just really curious.MaxD– MaxD2025-02-05 02:54:59 +00:00Commented Feb 5 at 2:54
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4@MaxD I'm going to guess that it's his visual memory and the fact that Paris is an important city. I know people in my city who play "bike tag" games (on Reddit) and have unbelievable visual memories of thousands of places and vantage points in the city.Nayuki– Nayuki2025-02-05 06:17:47 +00:00Commented Feb 5 at 6:17
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14@MaxD I’ve lived in Paris for a very long time and have been in that area many, many times. I have to admit my first instinct was that it was on the other side (towards the right bank), but Google Maps quickly told me otherwise.jcaron– jcaron2025-02-05 08:50:04 +00:00Commented Feb 5 at 8:50
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4@MaxD I saw the mansard windows implied in the sketch, with rows of tall (tall to me) buildings really near the river, and the long low style of bridge and thought "gotta be Paris" And I've never left NZ, it's kind of distinctively Parisian.Criggie– Criggie2025-02-06 01:18:28 +00:00Commented Feb 6 at 1:18
This frame from The Bourne Identity (2002) shows a different angle - it was shot from Port de Montebello. You can see the steep road parallel to Quay d'Orléans and the line of trees as in Bernard Buffet's lithograph.
The bridge in the background is Pont de la Tournelle and can be seen behind Matt Damon during the arc shot.
(I knew I had seen that scene before!)
