Charing Cross Bridge 02 1902

Claude Monet painted this version of "Charing Cross Bridge" in 1902, probably in his studio using oil on canvas. Can you imagine Monet working on this series? He's got a damp, gray, London day stuck in his head, but rendered in these sunset colors of orange and gold. It's like the memory of a feeling, rather than a description, and he's using these soft pastel blues and oranges to get there. The horizon line, so hazy, and the puffy, cloud-like brushstrokes, make me think about Turner, and those atmospheric seascapes he did, so full of light. Look at the surface of the water. The bridge is barely there. Artists are always having this conversation, you know? They are reaching back to what's come before, using it, twisting it, and answering it. Monet takes something from Turner, but then he goes somewhere completely new with it. It’s an ongoing dialogue that keeps evolving.