Between 1899 and 1901, Monet produced nearly a hundred views of the Thames River in London. He painted Waterloo Bridge and Charing Cross Bridge from his room in the Savoy Hotel and the Houses of Parliament from Saint Thomas's Hospital across the river. The artist continued to refine the paintings until 1903, when he wrote to his dealer Durand-Ruel: "I cannot send you a single canvas of London ... It is indispensable to have them all before me, and to tell the truth not one is definitely finished. I develop them all together." In 1904, this work and thirty-six others were shown at Durand-Ruel’s gallery in Paris.
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Artwork Details
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Title:The Houses of Parliament (Effect of Fog)
Artist:Claude Monet (French, Paris 1840–1926 Giverny)
Date:1903–4
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:32 x 36 3/8 in. (81.3 x 92.4 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Bequest of Julia W. Emmons, 1956
Object Number:56.135.6
Inscription: Signed and dated (lower left): Claude Monet 1903
[Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, 1909–11, bought from the artist in July 1909; stock no. 17609, as "Westminster"; sold on March 24, 1911 to Durand-Ruel]; [Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1911; stock no. 9549; sold on April 1 to Durand-Ruel, New York]; [Durand-Ruel, New York, 1911; stock no. 3438; sold on May 24 to Emmons]; Arthur B. Emmons, New York and Newport (1911–d. 1922); his widow, Julia W. Emmons, New York and Newport (1922–d. 1956)
Paris. Durand-Ruel. "Vues de la Tamise à Londres (1902–1904)," May 9–June 4, 1904, no. 32 (as "Effet de brouillard 1904" [under the general heading "Le Parlement"]).
St. Louis. Noonan-Kocian Gallery. 1911, no catalogue? [see Wildenstein 1985].
Milwaukee Art Center. "Man's Concept of Outer Space," October 1, 1958–February 15, 1959, no catalogue.
Phoenix Art Museum. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art Loan Collection: 'The River and the Sea'," February 15, 1967–February 15, 1968, no. 14.
Holyoke, Mass. Holyoke Museum of Natural History and Art. "Claude Monet," April–May 1968, no catalogue.
London. Hayward Gallery. "The Impressionists in London," January 3–March 11, 1973, no. 25.
Naples. Museo di Capodimonte. "Capolavori Impressionisti dei Musei Americani," December 3, 1986–February 1, 1987, no. 33.
Milan. Pinacoteca di Brera. "Capolavori Impressionisti dei Musei Americani," March 4–May 10, 1987, no. 33.
Fort Lauderdale. Museum of Art. "Corot to Cézanne: 19th Century French Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," December 22, 1992–April 11, 1993, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Painters in Paris: 1895–1950," March 8–December 31, 2000, extended to January 14, 2001, unnumbered cat. (as "The Houses of Parliament Seen in Fog").
Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum. "Claude Monet: A Hymn to Light," August 3–September 23, 2004, no. 43.
Nara Prefectural Museum of Art. "Claude Monet: A Hymn to Light," October 2–December 5, 2004, no. 43.
St. Petersburg, Fla. Museum of Fine Arts. "Monet's London: Artists' Reflections on the Thames 1859–1914," January 16–April 24, 2005, no. 36.
Brooklyn Museum. "Monet's London: Artists' Reflections on the Thames 1859–1914," May 27–September 4, 2005, no. 36.
Baltimore Museum of Art. "Monet's London: Artists' Reflections on the Thames 1859–1914," October 2–December 31, 2005, no. 36.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920," February 4–May 6, 2007, no. 93.
Berlin. Neue Nationalgalerie. "Französische Meisterwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts aus dem Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 1–October 7, 2007, unnumbered cat.
London. Tate Britain. "The EY Exhibition—Impressionists in London: French Artists in Exile 1870–1904," November 2, 2017–May 7, 2018, unnumbered cat. (ill. p. 239; as "Houses of Parliament [Fog Effect]").
Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux Arts de la Ville de Paris. "Les Impressionnistes à Londres: Artistes français en exil 1870–1904," June 21–October 14, 2018, unnumbered cat. (ill. p. 239; as "Le Parlement de Londres, effet de brouillard").
London. Courtauld Institute of Art. "Monet and London: Views of the Thames," September 27, 2024–January 19, 2025, no. 17.
LOAN OF THIS WORK IS RESTRICTED.
Claude Monet. Letter to Monsieur Durand. April 28, 1904 [published in L. Venturi, "Les archives de l'impressionnisme," 1939, vol. 1, p. 393], discusses the works to be included in the exhibition "Vues de la Tamise," mentioning one called "Parliament, effect of fog," possibly this picture.
Arsène Alexandre. Claude Monet. Paris, 1921, ill. opp. p. 104.
Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 3, XIX–XX Centuries. New York, 1967, pp. 142–43, ill., tentatively identify it as no. 31 in the 1904 Durand-Ruel exhibition.
Douglas Cooper. "The Monets in the Metropolitan Museum." Metropolitan Museum Journal 3 (1970), pp. 299, 301–2, 304–5, fig. 29.
Anthea Callen. The Impressionists in London. Exh. cat., Hayward Gallery. London, 1973, p. 47, no. 25, ill., claims that it may not have been included in the 1904 Durand-Ruel exhibition, and definitely should not be identified as no. 31, which is the version now at the High Museum, Atlanta (W1601).
John House. "The Impressionists in London." Burlington Magazine 115 (March 1973), p. 197.
John Elderfield. "Monet's Series." Art International 18 (November 15, 1974), ill. p. 28.
Grace Seiberling. Monet's Series. PhD diss., Yale University. New York, 1981, p. 375, no. 41, lists it as part of the Thames series.
Charles S. Moffett. Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1985, pp. 150–51, 253, ill. (color).
Daniel Wildenstein. Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné. Vol. 4, 1899–1926: Peintures. Lausanne, 1985, pp. 13, 19 n. 149, p. 39 n. 360, pp. 188–89, no. 1609, ill., dates it 1900–1901; claims Monet reworked it after the 1904 Durand-Ruel exhibition, at the same time changing the date from 1904 to 1903 and moving the signature from right to left; illustrates it in its original state; lists it as no. 32 in the 1904 exhibition.
John House. Monet: Nature into Art. New Haven, 1986, pp. 58–59, 204, pl. 89.
Gary Tinterow et al. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 8, Modern Europe. New York, 1987, pp. 8, 34, colorpl. 18.
Gary Tinterow et al. Capolavori impressionisti dei musei americani. Exh. cat., Museo di Capodimonte, Naples. Milan, 1987, pp. 76–77, no. 33, ill. (color).
Grace Seiberling. Monet in London. Exh. cat., High Museum of Art. Seattle, 1988, pp. 84, 86 n. 87, p. 93 n. 32, fig. 43 (color).
Roger Hurlburt. "Free Spirits." Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale) (December 20, 1992), p. 4D.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 478, ill.
Stephan Koja. Claude Monet. Exh. cat., Osterreichische Galerie, Vienna. Munich, 1996, pp. 196, 220, no. 76, colorpl. 76.
Daniel Wildenstein. Monet. Vol. 4, Catalogue raisonné–Werkverzeichnis: Nos. 1596–1983 et les grandes décorations. 2nd ed. Cologne, 1996, pp. 716–17, no. 1609, ill. (color).
Daniel Wildenstein. Monet or the Triumph of Impressionism. Vol. 1, 2nd ed. Cologne, 1996, ill. p. 346 (color).
Caroline Durand-Ruel. "Quand les Havemeyers aimaient la peinture française." Connaissance des arts no. 544 (November 1997), p. 108.
Eric M. Zafran. "Monet in the United States: The Early Years." Claude Monet–A Hymn to Light. Exh. cat., Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum. 2004, pp. 116, 194, 224, no. 43, ill. p. 117 (color).
Eric M. Zafran inClaude Monet (1840–1926): A Tribute to Daniel Wildenstein and Katia Granoff. Exh. cat., Wildenstein & Co., Inc. New York, 2007, p. 133.
Joseph Baillio and Cora Michael inClaude Monet (1840–1926): A Tribute to Daniel Wildenstein and Katia Granoff. Exh. cat., Wildenstein & Co., Inc. New York, 2007, p. 170.
Susan Alyson Stein inThe Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. New York, 2007, pp. 130–31, 242, no. 93, ill. (color and black and white).
Susan Alyson Stein inMasterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 145, 285, no. 134, ill. (color and black and white).
Jill Shaw inMonet Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago. Ed. Gloria Groom and Jill Shaw. Chicago, 2014, para. 10, under nos. 38–41, fig. 5 (color) [https://publications.artic.edu/monet/reader/paintingsanddrawings/section/135470].
Maria Becker inMonet: Light, Shadow, and Reflection. Ed. Ulf Küster. Exh. cat., Fondation Beyeler. Basel, 2017, p. 145.
Caroline Corbeau-Parsons inThe EY Exhibition—Impressionists in London: French Artists in Exile 1870–1904. Ed. Caroline Corbeau-Parsons. Exh. cat., Tate Britain. London, 2017, pp. 232–33, 263, colorpl. 6 [French ed., "Les Impressionnistes à Londres: Artistes français en exil, 1870–1904," Paris, pp. 231–33, 265, colorpl. 6], notes the inclusion of the yawls in both The Met's version and "Houses of Parliament, Fog Effect" (1903[4], Musée d'art moderne Andre Malraux, Le Havre); states that Monet made no secret about the fact that he finished most of his Thames pictures in his studio and that he ordered non-standard size canvases all of the same dimensions from Lechertier-Barbe of Jermyn Street in London for the series.
Carol Jacobi inThe EY Exhibition—Impressionists in London: French Artists in Exile 1870–1904. Ed. Caroline Corbeau-Parsons. Exh. cat., Tate Britain. London, 2017, p. 245 [French ed., "Les Impressionnistes à Londres: Artistes français en exil, 1870–1904," Paris].
Marianne Mathieu inMonet: The Late Years. Exh. cat., Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Fort Worth, 2019, p. 82, incorrectly associates it with those owned by Louisine Havemeyer and mistakenly dates it before 1900.
Katharine Baetjer inEuropean Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Exh. cat., Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art. South Brisbane, 2021, ill. p. 31 (color installation view).
André Dombrowski. Monet's Minutes: Impressionism and the Industrialization of Time. New Haven, 2023, pp. 159, 161.
Karen Serres. Monet and London: Views of the Thames. Exh. cat., Courtauld Gallery. London, 2024, pp. 56, 142, no. 17, ill. pp. 143, 157 (color), remarks that Monet's paintings of the Houses of Parliament were more succesful than his bridge motifs at the 1904 exhibition, and that this work was "one of only two views returned to the painter after the show, out of the eleven on display there".
Frances Fowle inMonet and London: Views of the Thames. Ed. Karen Serres. Exh. cat., Courtauld Gallery. London, 2024, p. 98.
In 1899, 1900, and 1901 Monet worked on three series of Thames scenes in London, which resulted in nearly one hundred pictures. The first group depicts Waterloo Bridge, the second Charing Cross Bridge with the Houses of Parliament, and the third, to which this example belongs, shows the Houses of Parliament alone seen from Saint Thomas's Hospital across the river.
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