How did Claude Monet’s Japanese Footbridge paintings become more abstract?

Claude Monet’s paintings of the Japanese footbridge became increasingly abstract due to a combination of his evolving artistic focus and the physical impact of cataracts on his vision.1

As Monet spent decades meditating on his garden at Giverny, his approach to Impressionism became more subjective. In his later works, particularly those created between 1920 and 1922, the bridge often dissolved into an interplay of light, color, and reflection rather than remaining a clearly delineated structure. This shift toward abstraction was influenced by:21

• Cataracts: The condition distorted his vision and often resulted in a characteristic reddish tone in his canvases, as seen in his later depictions of the bridge.1
• Technique: He utilized thick, impasto brushwork and energetic strokes that transformed the scene into a swirl of foliage and water.1
• Artistic Intent: Monet moved away from descriptive content, focusing instead on the "fugitive effects" of light and color. By exploring his subject so closely, the physical forms became less tangible, eventually influencing the later Abstract Expressionists.21