À propos de l’œuvre
Londres, le Parlement. Trouée de soleil dans le brouillard, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · 1904 · Orsay RF 2007 · W1610
London, Parliament, sun gap W1610hand painted reproduction
An orange sun pierces the purple fog above the Thames. On the left, Westminster is reduced to a ghostly silhouette; in the water, a hot trail responds to the star. Signed and dated 1904, the painting of the Musée d'Orsay is recorded RF 2007 and Wildenstein 1610.
Look at the work
A solar disk in the heart of a purple fog
Parliament occupies the left bank, but its towers seem to dissolve into the atmosphere. The luminous gap, slightly off-center, becomes the most stable point of the painting. All around, sky, city and river share the same tones.
The fragmented touch produces a dense mist without using neutral gray. Mauve, blue, orange and pink repeat in the air and water. The vertical reflection of the sun passes through these spots and connects the two halves of the canvas.
W1610 reverses the roles: the fog appears material, while the stone monument becomes almost immaterial.
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.
The RF 2007 version of the Musée d'Orsay
The official notice gives an oil on canvas of 81.5 × 92.5 cm, signed and dated lower left. The catalog raisonné identifies it as Wildenstein 1610.
A viewpoint from Saint-Thomas
Monet observes Parliament from the terrace of St. Thomas Hospital, on the opposite bank near Westminster Bridge. This backlight transforms the building into a silhouette.
Presented at Durand-Ruel in 1904
The painting appears in the exhibition of Views of the Thames organized in Paris. Monet brings together thirty-seven works devoted to Waterloo Bridge, Charing Cross Bridge and Parliament.
Reference image
Read this specific version
Only one image is used: the exact view of W1610, preserved as a real WebP of 1024 × 889 px, without artificial enlargement.
The sun as a center of tension
The orange disc remains small but intense. Its reflection does not form a regular column: it breaks in successive touches in the Thames.
Mauve, orange and smoky blue
Solar heat must remain enveloped by cold purples. Contrasting too harshly would remove the impression of light filtered by fog.
A fragmented touch everywhere
Monet uses comparable spots for sky and water. Their orientation varies slightly, which distinguishes the planes without breaking the atmospheric unit.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
The Musée d'Orsay documents this painting under the RF 2007 inventory; it measures 81.5 × 92.5 cm and corresponds to Wildenstein number 1610.
Hole of sun in the fog, W1610
The work bears the signature and date "Claude Monet 1904" at the bottom left. Its title precisely describes the lighting effect which organizes the scene.
Musée d'Orsay, RF 2007
The painting comes from the legacy of Count Isaac de Camondo in 1911. It is today kept at the Musée d'Orsay under this inventory.
The London fog as a subject
The monument serves as a landmark, but the real subject is the changing density of the air. Monet gives fog more presence than architecture.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The exact RF 2007 version, identified Wildenstein 1610
- The original format of 81.5 × 92.5 cm
- The little orange disk and its broken reflection on the Thames
- The purple silhouette of Parliament kept in the fog
Work sheet
| Title | London, Parliament, sun gap W1610 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1904 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 81.5 × 92.5 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France |
| Inventory | RF 2007 · Wildenstein 1610 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
The combination of mauve and orange brings deep light to a living room or office. The reproduction goes well with walnut, weathered brass and warm gray or smoky blue walls.
