Claude Monet
1902
Oil on canvas
95.4 x 81.3 cm
Claude Monet has here conjured a greater sense of depth than in most other views of Charing Cross Bridge, with the elongated towers of the Houses of Parliament in the distance and the rare inclusion of the curving Embankment in the lower right. This painting is one of three works in the exhibition not included in his inaugural display of the Thames series in 1904. It remained unfinished until 1910 when Monet completed it for a charity raffle, and backdated it to 1902. It is one of only two Thames paintings by Monet in a British public collection today (the other is no. 8), thanks to the pioneering Welsh collector Margaret Davies who bought the work in 1913.