À propos de l’œuvre
Le pont de Waterloo, l'effet de la lumière du soleil, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · around 1900, dated 1903 · the sun crosses the London fog
The Waterloo Bridge, sun effecthand painted reproduction
A yellow and pink gap hits the Thames, transforms the barges into flashes of light and lets the bridge float in a purple fog: this version contrasts the cold shadow with an almost incandescent light.
Look at the work
A reflection of sunshine organizes the entire view of London
Waterloo Bridge appears as a purple silhouette above a deep blue river. On the right, an area of yellows, whites and roses concentrates the light and guides the eye towards the boats. The factories on the south bank are nothing more than red and purple masses in the sky.
Monet maintains the same view as in other versions of the series, but completely changes the colored balance. The light center is not painted like a solar disk: it manifests itself by its broken reflections, scattered horizontally on the surface of the Thames.
Here the real subject is neither the bridge nor the city: it is the meeting of a ray of sunshine with water and fog.
Composition, touch and light
What Monet builds behind the impression of snapshot
Three precise elements allow us to understand this composition and the essential difficulties of faithful reproduction.
Off-center light
The lightest area is on the right and at the bottom. This voluntary imbalance gives movement to a composition that is nevertheless built on long horizontals.
Blue as depth
The densest blues occupy the foreground. They move the water towards the viewer while the bridge and sky dissolve into lighter mauves.
The barges caught in the reflection
The small boats can be read thanks to a few dark touches surrounded by yellow. They give the scale of the river and interrupt the flicker.
Details and visual documents
Observe the material and the exact version
The additional images show the difficult-to-read passages in the full view and, where it exists, the actual appearance of the work at the museum.
The gallery combines a clean view in 1200 × 977 px, cropping without oversampling and a real photograph of the work framed in 2244 × 1892 px. Museum photo: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0; WebP conversion.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
These facts concern this precise version and are verified from the notice of the institution which keeps it.
Painted around 1900, signed 1903
The Milwaukee Art Museum dates the performance around 1900 and specifies that Monet brought the date 1903 to the canvas, the year he exhibited the series in Paris.
A slightly horizontal square
With 73.82 × 98.11 cm, this version is less elongated than that of Ordrupgaard. The solar reflection thus occupies a significant part of the surface.
Legacy of Mrs. Albert T. Friedmann
The work entered the Milwaukee Art Museum by the bequest of Mrs. Albert T. Friedmann. Its inventory number is M1950.3.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The opposition between deep blues and bright yellows
- The solar reflection constructed by separate touches
- The bridge visible without a rigid contour line
- The dark barges in the heart of the light zone
Work sheet
| Title | The Waterloo Bridge, sun effect |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | circa 1900, dated 1903 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 73.82 × 98.11 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, United States |
| Inventory | M1950.3 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
Intense blues and golden highlights provide more contrast than other Waterloo Bridges. The canvas works particularly well on a light, midnight blue or warm gray wall, with soft side lighting.
