The Houses of Parliament, Sunset

1903

Claude Monet

Artist, French, 1840 - 1926

A row of spire-like structures of different heights is silhouetted in azure blue against a soft pink, yellow, peach, and lavender-purple sunset and reflected in a rippling river in this nearly square landscape painting. Along the horizon, the buildings stretch from our right, almost fully across the canvas, and are painted with vertical brushstrokes in cool shades of blue. The sky behind the towers seems hazy with intermingling, pastel-colored clouds. The buildings are reflected in the river, which fills the bottom third of the painting. The surface of the water is painted with short, horizontal brushstrokes in azure blue for the buildings, and apricot, rose, and marigold orange for the sky’s reflection. A streak and smudge of olive-green paint on the water represents a person in a boat near the center of the painting. The artist signed and dated the work in the same olive color at the lower right: “Claude Monet 1903.”

Media Options

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On View

East Building Mezzanine, Gallery 217-B

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 81.3 x 92.5 cm (32 x 36 7/16 in.)
    framed: 107 x 117.5 x 8.8 cm (42 1/8 x 46 1/4 x 3 7/16 in.)

  • Accession

    1963.10.48

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

From the artist to (Durand-Ruel, Paris); sold 1904 to Edmond Décap, Paris;[1] by inheritance to Maurice Barret-Décap, Paris and Biarritz; (his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 12 December 1929, no. 8); purchased by Chester Dale [1882-1962], New York; bequest 1963 to NGA.
[1]See letter from Durand-Ruel, dated 4 February 1930, in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1904

  • Vues de la Tamise à Londres, Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1904, no. 29

1943

  • Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1943-1951, unnumbered cat., repro.

1965

  • The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

2010

  • From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, January 2010-January 2012, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1939

  • Venturi, Lionello. Les archives de l'impressionnisme. 2 vols. Paris and New York, 1939:I:393-394

1943

  • Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. Philadelphia, 1943:, unpaginated, repro.

1953

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1953: 63, repro.

1965

  • Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 98, repro.

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 92.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 81, repro.

1974

  • Wildenstein, Daniel. Claude Monet: biographie et catalogue raisonné. 5 vols. Paris, 1974: 4:no. 1598.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 240, repro.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 491, no. 728, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 277, repro.

2012

  • Kennicott, Philip. "French Rooms Reopen, With Different Accents." Washington Post 135, no. 55 (January 29, 2012): E25.

Inscriptions

lower right: Claude Monet 1903

Wikidata ID

Q20190858

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