Sunrise : an impression
Sunrise Tower Bridge
In the winter of 1871 a refugee artist came to London to escape the Franco-Prussian war and the devastation of Paris.
His name was Claude Monet and he and his family stayed in Norwood, South London and briefly on the Strand near the Savoy.
Among the works he painted that cold winter was the dismantling of the temporary pier by Westminster and the newly built Houses of Parliament.
Then one morning he looked east and saw the liquid watery sunrise through the smoke and haze of London’s docklands. This quick sketch was later exhibited in Paris and caused a stir.
The critics hated it… and ridiculed the group
this is not art - it’s mere impressionism
The public loved it and the name stuck. Monet and his associates seized and relished in the name the Impressionists.
In many ways it was there method of dealing with the tragedy of France’s defeat in this short but catastrophic war with Prussia. They chose to paint the moment, the fleeting brief instant formed by light .
This painting takes advantage of the low winter sun, the cold brief feeble dawn.
150 years later in the Lockdown of the terrible pandemic I chose to celebrate Monet’s achievement with this sunrise looking east along the Thames. I showed the sun coming up behind Tower bridge (not even built when Monet was a refugee in London) built in the 1890s.
Now the air is clearer, the smog has gone, the traffic such as there is, along the Thames is made up of passenger boats. At this time, they are empty, people are at home, and the view is divine.
Sunrise: an Impression
Sunrise : an Impression
Email to ask about this work. info@mallettspallette.co.uk