Sleuthing Monet's "Thames Below Westminster"
The National Gallery in London has several galleries devoted to the works of Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist artists. Six paintings by Claude Monet are included in its collection.
One of those paintings is known as “The Thames Below Westminster”. A small canvas (47 x 73 cm), it looks up the river toward the Houses of Parliament (the Palace of Westminster) and Westminster Bridge. It is not a detailed architectural drawing but rather a series of loosely rendered shapes emerging out of the foggy atmosphere. In order to escape the Franco-Prussian War, Claude Monet brought his young family to London in September 1870. This was to be the first of several visits to London, Fascinated by the light effects and atmospheric conditions (i.e. the pollution generated fog), Monet was to paint numerous views of the river Thames as it cuts through central London. Like his Impressionist friends back home in Paris, Monet was interested in being a painter of modern life. While the structures depicted in the painting may seem old to modern eyes, they were new when Monet painted this picture. The Palace of Westminster was just being completed and the the new version of Westminster Bridge had only opened in 1862. On the right hand side of the picture is the new Victoria Embankment, completed in 1870, which turned the riverbank into an elegenat promenade. Indeed, Monet has depicted some of the workmen removing the scafolding used in its construction. Underlining that his intent was not to portray a pictureesque scene, Monet has also included some working boats plying the river. The National Gallery is only a short distance from the Victoria Embankment so while I was looking at this painting, I thought it would be interesting to compare the view in the painting with how that view looks today. So I resolved to do some detective work and find the spot where Monet painted this picture. During his later trips to London, Monet stayed at the Savoy and painted a number of his views of the Thames from his room at that hotel. However, my immediate thought was that those visits were after Monet had achieved some success and could afford to stay at the Savoy - - not something the poverty-stricken young painter could have done in 1870. In any event, some research revealed that the Savoy did not open until 1889. There is no plaque marking where Monet painted the scene depicted in the painting so some sleuthing was necessary. The view from the painting is from the northern bank of the river. Thus, Monet must have been on or near the Victoria Embankment, which runs along the north bank. But where along the north bank? The Houses of Parliament, and more particularly, the towers on that building, provide some clues to Monet's location. There are three large towers on the Houses of Parliament, which running from west to east, are: the Elizabeth Tower (the one that houses Big Ben), the Central Tower, and the Victoria Tower. The Elizabeth Tower is the nearest in the painting, thus Monet had to have been west of the Houses of Parliament looking upriver. Near to the building, you can only see the Elizabeth Tower from the Victoria Embankment. As you move further away, the Central Tower becomes visible. Still, further the Victoria Tower appears. But, the painting shows all three of the towers of the Houses of Parliament and I had to walk some distance from the Houses of Parliament in order to see all three towers from the Victoria Embankment. Monet could not have been any further away from the Houses of Parliament than the Charing Cross Railway Bridge, otherwise that bridge would have blocked his view of the Houses of Parliament. Peering through the foliage of the trees along the embankment, I found that all three towers were visible from the Embankment just below the Charing Cross Bridge. Yet, the scene from this spot is not exactly the same as in the painting. First, the three towers do not line up in relation to each other in the same way. Second, the painting appears to place the viewer to the left of the Embankment. I had thought beforehand that perhaps there was a curve where the Embankment bowed out into the river. However, no such curve exists. These two problems were solved by climbing up onto the Golden Jubilee Bridge and walking a short distance towards the opposite bank of the Thames. From a point about an eighth of the way across, I was over the river and the three towers lined up in the right relationship. But, the Golden Jubilee Bridge was not constructed until the year 2000. Monet could not have painted the picture from there. However, the Golden Jubilee Bridge is next to and runs parallel to the Charing Cross Railway Bridge, which opened in 1864. Furthermore, in order to compensate for the loss of a pedestrain bridge that was torn down in order to make way for the railway bridge, a pedestrain walkway on the side facing the Houses of Parliament was placed along the railway bridge. Thus, it appears that “The Thames Below Westminster” depicts the scene from Charing Cross Railway Bridge. From that spot, I could see that Monet had taken some liberties in depicting the scene; for example, the Elizabeth Tower is narrower in the painting than it is in reality. In addition, the passage of time has altered the scene – the trees along the Victoria Embankment are much bigger now. The workmen removing the scafolding along the Embankment have gone and some small landings for boats have been added. And in the far distance beyond Westminster Bridge, a line of high rise buildings can now be seen. Still, Monet would have recognized the scene. Ironically, with the alleviation of the air pollution that was once London's trademark, the scene does not present the same light effects that Monet captured. However, the major landmarks are still there and although tour boats and fast ferries have replaced the steamers that he depicted, it is still a working river full of modern life. See our profiles of these Impressionists and members of their circle.
Frederic Bazille Eugene Boudin Marie Bracquemond Gustave Caillebotte Mary Cassatt Paul Cezanne Edgar Degas Henri Fantin-Latour Eva Gonzales Paul Gauguin Armand Guillaumin Edouard Manet Claude Monet (Part I The Early Years) Claude Monet (Part II High Impressionism) Claude Monet (Part III The Giverny Years) Berthe Morisot Camille Pissarro Pierre Auguste Renoir Alfred Sisley Suzanne Valadon |
Above: The Thames Below Westminster by Claude Monet, now in the National Gallery in London.
From the Victoria Embankment close to The Houses of Parliament, the three towers on the Houses of Parliament are not as depicted in Monet's painting.
The view from the Golden Jubilee Bridge is similar to the view depicted in Monet's The Thames Below Westminster.
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Art Travel - Sleuthing Monet's The Thames Below Westminster