Thames Map: Works Thames Map: Walks Polluted Landscapes Tate Boat

Charing Cross Bridge

• Whistler Charing Cross Railway Bridge
• Monet Charing Cross Bridge
• Monet Charing Cross Bridge, The Thames
• Monet Charing Cross Bridge (Overcast Day)
• Monet Charing Cross Bridge, Fog in the Thames

Charing Cross Railway Bridge

These prints provide a panoramic sweep of the Thames from Whistler's rooms on the sixth floor of the Savoy Hotel. To the right were views of Charing Cross Bridge (now called Hungerford Bridge), Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament, while to the left was Waterloo Bridge, with St. Paul's Cathedral beyond.

At this stage Whistler channelled most of his experimentation into lithography, a medium perfectly suited to the restrained, understated effects he was seeking; the scenes appear more like memories or dreams than views from a window. Monet admired these prints, and decided to stay at the Savoy himself and paint variations on the same theme.

Whistler's wife died soon after he made these prints, and he never returned to paint or draw the Thames. See also the other lithographs in this set: Little London, Waterloo Bridge and Evening Little Waterloo Bridge.

James McNeill Whistler Charing Cross Railway Bridge 1896
Transfer lithograph on paper. Art Institute of Chicago

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Charing Cross Bridge

Monet made about a hundred oil paintings during his visits to London in 1899 and the following two years. Most feature either Charing Cross or Waterloo Bridge. Both could be seen from the Savoy Hotel where, like Whistler before him, he took rooms overlooking the Thames. These four show what is now known as Hungerford Bridge, built in 1863 to carry trains across the river to and from Charing Cross Station.

At the beginning of one of his visits to London Monet had been forced to work in pastels when the crates containing his oil paints were delayed at customs. This experience made him realise how to capture specific atmospheric effects, such as this morning light seen through fog and smoke from the trains.

Claude Monet Charing Cross Bridge 1899-1901
Oil on canvas.

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Charing Cross Bridge, The Thames

Claude Monet Charing Cross Bridge, The Thames 1903
Oil on canvas. Lent by the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon

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Charing Cross Bridge (Overcast Day)

Claude Monet Charing Cross Bridge (Overcast Day) 1900
Oil on canvas. Lent by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Given by Janet Hubbard Stevens in memory of her mother, Janet Watson Hubbard

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Charing Cross Bridge, Fog in the Thames

Claude Monet Charing Cross Bridge, Fog in the Thames 1899-1901
Oil on canvas. Lent by the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge Massachusetts

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