Claude Monet
1903
Oil on canvas
81.2 x 92 cm
Views of the Houses of Parliament were painted on almost square canvases, an unusual format that doesn’t appear in suppliers’ trade books. It is likely that Claude Monet had the canvases made bespoke in London with this particular composition in mind. In contrast, representations of Charing Cross Bridge and Waterloo Bridge were painted on standard-sized, off-the-peg canvases. Despite the relative uniformity of their composition, the views of the Houses of Parliament exhibit a striking variety in their rendering of atmosphere and weather.