Waterloo Bridge, Sunlight Effect
1903
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
65.7 × 101 cm (25 7/8 × 39 3/4 in.); Framed: 88.9 × 123.2 × 10.8 cm (35 × 48 1/2 × 4 1/4 in.)
Classification
painting
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
20701
Art Historical Context
Claude Monet's *Waterloo Bridge,light Effect* (1903) captures the iconic London landmark bathed in a radiant glow, part of the artist's renowned series painted from his Savoy Hotel window. During multiple trips to England around 1900–1904, Monet was mesmerized by the Thames River's misty atmosphere, producing over 40 variations of Waterloo Bridge, Charing Cross Bridge, and the Houses of Parliament. This on canvas exemplifies his Impressionist obsession with ephemeral light and weather, transforming industrial London into a dreamlike haze of purples, pinks, and golds. Monet's loose, dappled br...
About the Artist
Claude Monet · 1840–1926
Claude Monet, born Oscar-Claude Monet on November 14, 1840, in Paris and raised in Le Havre, Normandy, began his artistic journey as a successful teenage caricaturist. His formal training started at the Le Havre secondary school of the arts in 1851, where he received his first drawing lessons from Jacques-François Ochard. Around 1858, he met Eugène Boudin, who became his pivotal mentor, introducin...