Monet and London

 

Views of the Thames

 

 

Claude Monet (1840-1926) 

 

Charing Cross Bridge, the Thames, 1903, oil on canvas 

 

Musee des Beaux-Arts, Lyon,

 

Image © Lyon MBA – Photo Alain Basset

 

 

The Courtauld Gallery

 

27 Sept 2024 – 19 Jan 2025

2

 

"It's the fog that gives London its marvelous breadth. Regular blocks become grandiose in this mysterious cloak." Claude Monet

 

 

A Feature by Mary Fox Couzens for EXTRA! EXTRA!


On the day of the Press View for this exhibition, the weather prediction included fog, a natural phenomenon, which, mingled with the man-made, voluminous factory smoke of London skies in 1899 created effects (effet) often lasting only a few moments. These inspired French Impressionist painter Claude Monet (1840-1926) as he began the first of his three consecutive over winters to try to paint them from the wrought iron balconies of his sixth and fifth-floor suites at the Savoy Hotel on the Strand, then literally situated on the banks of the vast River Thames. Conveniently placed on a bend in the river, the prestigious hotel offered the painter unprecedented panoramic views of Waterloo Bridge, the smoke-belching factories behind it, Charing Cross Bridge, and the new, Charing Cross Train Station. London, at that time the most heavily populated city on Earth, was seen as a cradle of modernity, and while many artists admired its unprecedented industrial innovations, it seems none more than Monet. Any humans peopling his, at times, teeming scenes appeared as silhouettes, mere shadows among the many keeping London ticking over, be they manning boats, riding atop omnibuses, or workers one can only sense, hidden behind factory walls. Other paintings, devoid of human activity almost seem contemplative by comparison. During his second winter in the 'Big Smoke' a term definitely not in use to describe London at the time, Monet received permission from brand-new St. Thomas' Hospital to paint his front-facing series of views of The Houses of Parliament from their grounds, where he worked on capturing the setting sun behind the buildings. It is said that that particular series of works was his favourite of his Thames renderings. In all, Monet worked on 19 paintings on St. Thomas' grounds., the first time being on February 13, 1900. Working with available light, and the ever-changing effects created by the mixture of fog and fumes emanating from the many factories in operation then, mornings found him facing East towards Waterloo Bridge, while late mornings and afternoons he depicted more Southerly views, towards Charing Cross, lastly, working to capture the evening light behind Parliament as the wintery sun was setting. The fact that the effects of the two atmospheric conditions of fog and factory fumes could then be seen as beautiful even poetic demonstrates the difference in how such things are seen today, reminding those in attendance that they are looking at these scenes through the eyes and imagination of a late 19th and early 20th- century Impressionist artist.

 

 

Claude Monet (1840-1926) 

 London, Parliament. Sunlight in the Fog, 1904, oil on canvas

Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Photo © Grand Palais RMN (musée d’Orsay) _ Hervé Lewandowski

 

 

Those who appreciate Monet's artistry will savour every moment in this concise exhibition, staged to give those attending it an idea of and something of the feeling of what the artist's celebrated 1904 Paris exhibition. This, from the perspective of seeing several examples from the original series, 19, roughly half of the original exhibition count of 37, plus a couple of additions, garnered later on by canny collectors, side by side as the artist intended, offering rare opportunities to access his unique process and trajectory. As the artist himself said, 'Together, they take on their full meaning.' Working in series as Monet did, was seen as radical in his day. Known to be a bit 'loose' when dating his paintings, he was also a bit 'naughty' as we were informed during our tour, as he sometimes reworked paintings that had been viewed as complete prior. In all, Monet would eventually finish over 100 views of the Thames, 60 odd of which were gradually completed over the course of 15 years and 94 of which are known of today. Some of his more indistinct views of the Thames could almost be seen as precursors to abstraction. His fascination with London fogs and their effects first began when he visited London in 1870, as an unknown, struggling artist, with his wife and young son, to escape the Franco-Prussian War, staying in various guest houses, at which time he'd painted 2 canvases of the Thames hoping to return someday. Monet's continuing interest in colour and light had been spurred on by 7 years spent in North Africa, having been drafted to Algiers in 1861.

 

  "The fog assumes all sorts of colours; there are black, brown, yellow, green, purple fogs and the interest in painting is to get the objects as seen through all these fogs. My practiced eye has found that objects change in appearance in a London fog more and quicker than in any other atmosphere, and the difficulty is to get every change down on canvas.' Claude Monet"

 

 

 

 

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Waterloo Bridge, Sunlight Effect, 1903  

oil on canvas

  Milwaukee Art Museum

Image Courtesy of the Milwaukee Art Museum 

Photo John R. Glembin  

 

 

 Much time and effort has gone into the assembling of this collection of artworks, four years in the gathering, especially as Monet's paintings were heavily collected by private individuals and taken far and wide during his lifetime and indeed, in the immediate aftermath of his hugely successful 1904 Paris exhibition. Already famous at the time, as our guide and exhibition curator, Dr. Karen Serres pointed out, the artist was a 'victim of his own success' as 24 of the 37 paintings exhibited were bought by collectors following their showing so he no longer had enough left to reassemble the exhibition in London the following year, as he had hoped to. Thus, the artist's acclaim came at a price to potential admirers of his work in London. Intending to finish more of the Thames paintings for a London showing the following year, perfectionist Monet did not feel he had enough canvases that he was satisfied with by the end of that year, so the idea was abandoned, as he turned his artistic attention to his Waterlily motifs. The fact that the Courtauld, just a stone's throw from the River Thames and a mere 300 metres from the Savoy Hotel where Monet resided and worked during his London stays is now offering art lovers a chance to be in the picture, so to speak, of his acclaimed 1904 Paris exhibition is a historic occasion, to say the least! Knowing that Monet's wishes are being fulfilled as much as is humanly possible in the here and now, 120 years after he'd intended them to be certainly added an air of excitement and new levels of appreciation of these works for me, as I know it will for other art lovers approaching this exhibition from a historical perspective. Speaking of history, this exhibition also coincides with the 150th Anniversary of the first Impressionist exhibition held in Paris in 1874 in which Monet participated. The artist was one of only seven among the 31 artists showing there who are still well known today, the others being: Renoir, Degas, Morisot, Pissarro, Sisley, and Cézanne.

 

 

 

 

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Houses of Parliament_ Effect of Fog, London, 1904 oil on

oil on canvas

  Museum of Fine Arts, St Petersburg, Florida

Image_ Museum of Fine Arts, St Petersburg, Florida

 

 

 

 Favourites are difficult if not impossible to pinpoint in this exhibition for although one's natural tendency may be to gravitate towards paintings displaying hopeful radiance amongst the clouds, there is an undeniably mysterious allure to those nearly completely shrouded in Monet's London fogs. I call them 'Monet's' because the painter sometimes added colours to the existing combinations, heightening their magnetic attraction, while lending contrast within his artistic framework. Being able to drink in such a large group of these paintings with their varying atmospheric degrees was therefore, informative and often surprising to my own already appreciative eye, as the works I was drawn to expanded to include darker ones, much in the manner that the original fogs the artist was seeking to capture may have dissipated, enabling new natural and man-made combinations, enhanced through the powers of his own imagination. Of course, we want the things we love to be seen in their best light, as it were, but Monet urged on by his innate sense of experimentation, was obviously savouring the rule-breaking not just of making series work at the time, but of the knowledge that the work he was creating was unlike that of any of his contemporaries. Understandably, I can see hints of the influence of J. M. W. Turner (1775- 1851), in some of these paintings, but there, any references to any other artist end, apart from possibly, the motif of the Thames itself as Monet's friends, James Abbott McNeill Whistler who had worked on etchings from the windows of the Savoy a few years before him and fellow Impressionist, Camile Pissarro also painted. That said, driven by his obsession with these fogs, and artistic innovation, Monet developed something new, something completely his own, and art lovers the world over are all the better for it.  

 

 

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Waterloo Bridge, soleile voilé 

signed and dated 'Claude Monet 1903' (lower left), 1899-1903

 Oil on canvas

 Private collection.  

Photo © Christie’s Images _ Bridgeman Images

 

 

On a rainy September morning, near the sites of Monet's subject matter, despite the amiable din of a press view, in the company of these evocative paintings, I recognized what an achievement it must have been for this artist to have reminded Paris exhibition goers of wintery London on a May day in 1904, and how such an accomplishment further cemented his place as France's top painter. Still, in all, I couldn't help but wonder what reaction a 1905 London exhibition of his Thames series might have received...

 

 Monet described the 'wonderful things (he saw while in England), but none lasting more than five minutes, it is enough to drive one mad. No, there is no country more extraordinary for a painter.'

 

 

Editor’s note: The Courtauld Gallery is a wonderful place to visit, any time of year, even more so while Monet and London. Views of the Thames is on. So, treat yourself to a ticket (concessions available) and while there, be sure to take in the renowned collection of Impressionist and Post Impressionist art on show on the same floor as the exhibition.

 

 

 

www.extraextra.org/Review_Art_Monet_and_London_Views_of_the_Thames_2024.html

 The Courtauld at Somerset House

 

 

The Courtauld Institute of Art 
Somerset House Strand London WC2R 0RN

 


 

 

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