A tall pine tree stands at the center of the composition, its trunk dividing the landscape and its branches spreading wide against a pale sky. To the left, a cluster of darker trees rises from the foreground, their vertical forms echoing the central pine and framing the view. The viaduct, with its series of arches, crosses the Arc River Valley and is set just beneath the foothills, marking the boundary between cultivated land and rising terrain.

Behind the viaduct, the slopes of Montagne Sainte-Victoire rise in muted purples and browns, their forms softened by atmospheric haze. The sky above is filled with loose, horizontal brushstrokes of blue, gray, and white, suggesting drifting clouds and diffused light. Cézanne uses short, blocky brushstrokes throughout the painting, building up the landscape with textured patches of color rather than fine detail.

The palette is dominated by greens and yellows in the valley, with touches of blue and violet in the distant mountains and sky. The composition is carefully balanced, with the strong verticals of the trees offset by the horizontal sweep of the viaduct and the receding lines of the landscape. Paul Cézanne painted Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley between 1882 and 1885, during his mature period. The work depicts the countryside near Aix-en-Provence, with Montagne Sainte-Victoire and the Arc River Valley as central motifs.

Cézanne began painting Montagne Sainte-Victoire in a series around this time, inspired by views from his native region. The painting once belonged to the collectors Henry and Louisine Havemeyer, who bequeathed it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1929.