Houses of Parliament, Sunset - Claude Monet

A classic Impressionist study by Claude Monet, capturing the Palace of Westminster silhouetted against a fiery London sunset.

Claude Monet painted this work during his extended stays in London between 1899 and 1901. He worked from a room at the Savoy Hotel, observing the Thames and the silhouette of the Palace of Westminster. This series of paintings captures the shifting atmospheric conditions of the city, particularly the interaction between sunlight and the thick London fog.

In this specific composition, the sun is a glowing orb obscured by haze, casting a warm, fiery light across the sky and the water. The architecture of the Houses of Parliament appears as a dark, monolithic shape against the luminous background. Monet used short, rapid brushstrokes to build the surface, prioritising the perception of light over the precise definition of form. The reflection of the sun on the river surface creates a vertical axis of colour that balances the horizontal expanse of the scene.

Monet returned to these canvases in his Giverny studio, refining the surfaces and colour harmonies before exhibiting them in 1904. The work demonstrates his focus on seriality, where the same subject is revisited under different conditions to explore the transient nature of visual experience. The palette relies on contrasting tones, with deep blues and purples in the shadows set against the orange and yellow hues of the setting sun. This approach creates a sense of depth and atmosphere without relying on traditional linear perspective. The painting is a study of light, colour, and the physical environment of the Thames at the turn of the twentieth century.