Claude Monet - Charing Cross Bridge 1899

Charing Cross Bridge 1899
Charing Cross Bridge
1899 64x80cm oil/canvas
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

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From Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid:
On a late winter afternoon, London’s frenzied activity seems to have drawn to a halt. Only a few barges move slowly under Charing Cross Bridge, with the hazy silhouette of the Houses of Parliament barely visible in the background. This painting is one of a series of views of the Thames produced by Monet between 1899 and 1901 from the Savoy Hotel, overlooking the gardens of the Victoria Embankment. Though varying in subject-matter, these paintings share a common aim: to capture the light filtering through the winter fog. Of the thirty-seven views comprising the series, only twelve were finished on site, most being completed in Monet’s studio at Giverny, where he showed less interest in topographical accuracy than in the treatment of light as a whole.