Charing Cross Bridge 1901

Claude Monet created "Charing Cross Bridge" with oil on canvas during his extended stays in London between 1899 and 1901. Monet, displaced by the Franco-Prussian War, found refuge in London, a city whose atmosphere deeply influenced his work. Here, London's infamous fog veils the industrial might of the Charing Cross Bridge. Unlike earlier depictions of London, which celebrated its imperial power, Monet captures a city in flux, blurred by pollution. The thick atmosphere obscures traditional representations, offering instead an experience of transient, ephemeral sensations. Monet once said that he admired London fog and that 'it is fog that gives it its magnificent breadth'. Monet's series of paintings depicting the bridge are not just landscapes, they are visual poems reflecting the shifting social and environmental realities of a rapidly industrializing world. He invites us to consider how our environments shape our perceptions, and how identity is always in dialogue with the spaces we inhabit.