Claude Monet
1900
Oil on canvas
This richly detailed view of Waterloo Bridge on a gloomy day was painted from the balcony of Claude Monet’s suite on the top floor of the Savoy Hotel. While other guests may have been taken aback by the sight of heavy industrial activity in central London, Monet was fascinated by the plumes of smoke emanating from the tall chimneys on the south bank of the Thames. What appears to us today as toxic pollution appeared to Monet as a symbol of modernity and the source of London’s particular atmosphere. Smoke and coal particles merged with clouds, steam and vapour along the wide river to create the striking visual effects that so enthralled him.