Description
Houses of Parliament, Sunset Effect was painted by impressionist painter Claude Monet in 1905. Having already explored the play of water and light in his famous Water Lilies collection Claude Monet took up the challenge of capturing the darker beauty of London’s fog. During three trips taken from 1899 to 1901, he created a number of works along the banks of the Thames. From his viewpoint on the balcony of Saint Thomas’ Hospital, across the river from his subject, he used multiple canvases to capture the changing weather and light conditions that transformed the setting. The Houses of Parliament emerge as a large dark blue silhouette amid the orange and red late-afternoon sunset in this piece. Rays of pale yellow sunshine break through at the upper right and shimmer on the purple water below in overlapping strokes of color.
