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CLAUDE MONET (1840-1926) Waterloo Bridge oil on canvas 64.7 x 81 cm (251/2 x 32 in.) painted ca....

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:600,000.00 - 800,000.00 USD
CLAUDE MONET (1840-1926) Waterloo Bridge oil on canvas 64.7 x 81 cm (251/2 x 32 in.) painted ca....

CLAUDE MONET

(1840-1926)

Waterloo Bridge

oil on canvas

64.7 x 81 cm (25 1⁄2 x 32 in.)

painted ca. 1899-1901

Estimate: £420,000–550,000

$600,000–800,000



Provenance

Michel Monet, Giverny

Acquired from the above by the father of the present owner in 1952




Exhibited

Winterthur, Kunstmuseum, Das gloriose Jahrzehnt, Französische Kunst, 1910-1920 aus Winterthurer Besitz, January-April, 1991, no. 71 (illustrated in colour; dated ca. 1900-1910)




Literature

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet, Biographie et Catalogue raisonné, Lausanne, 1985, vol. IV, p. 176, no. 1574 (illustrated, p. 177)

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet, Catalogue raisonné, Cologne, 1996, vol. III, p. 688, no. 1574 (illustrated, p. 687)


<p>Waterloo Bridge was built during the years 1811-1817 in order to provide a direct pedestrian and vehicular link between the western end of the City of London and the industrialized South Bank. The bridge is distinguished from Monet’s other favourite London motif, Charing Cross Bridge, by its classical arches. Charing Cross Bridge, made specifically for railways was of a functional pier and beam construction and was more stark and angular in appearance. In general, the views of Waterloo Bridge have a more lyrical, classical appearance, as suggested by the subject.
Monet’s procedure when working on the London series is vividly suggested by George Shackleford and Mary Anne Stevens as follows: “Monet wanted to capture in the London series that distinctly ‘London-like’ characteristic given by its fog. He apparently worked at great speed, selecting, according to the specific weather conditions, either a canvas already embarked upon or starting afresh. This method had major implications as it meant that he had a vast number of canvases on the go at any one time, most of which remained in ‘sketch’ form in order to capture his motifs ‘in all times of the day, in all the harmonies’. Back in his studio in Giverny Monet found it difficult to bring these unfinished canvases to completion from memory. He not only fought to keep the maximum number together so that he could work concurrently on a group, but also apparently destroyed some or was in danger of ruining others through re-touching or re-working” (George Shackleford and Mary Anne Stevens, Monet in the 20th Century, exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1999, p. 130).