Charing Cross Bridge: Fog on the Thames 1903

Editor: So, this is Monet's "Charing Cross Bridge: Fog on the Thames," painted in 1903. It's currently housed at the Harvard Art Museums. The colors are so muted; it almost disappears into the fog! What strikes you about this work? Curator: I'm drawn to how Monet’s technique reflects the industrialization obscuring London. Consider the materiality: layers of paint mimicking the density of pollution, blurring the boundary between the natural and the man-made. How does this process speak to the social context of the time? Editor: That's a fascinating perspective! I hadn't considered the paint itself as a reflection of industrial processes. Curator: Exactly! Monet isn't just painting a scene, he's using his materials to comment on labor and the changing environment. That changes everything. Editor: This gives me a completely new way to look at Impressionism. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure! It's all about seeing the means of production, even in something as seemingly ethereal as fog.