In the summer of 1887 Van Gogh often worked on the banks of the Seine at Asnières, a suburb of Paris. He was under the spell of French Impressionism, but had also been introduced to the latest painting technique, Pointillism. Each of these committed bright color to canvas, in dabs and dots, respectively. After his own fashion, Van Gogh exploited them both, as we see here, with his long stripes for water, small dots for trees, and large touches for the sky.