À propos de l’œuvre
Le pont de Waterloo, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · 1900 · Santa Barbara Museum of Art · W1555
Waterloo Bridge, Santa Barbara W1555hand painted reproduction
Waterloo Bridge passes through a lilac gray mist above a Thames covered in yellow and pink reflections. The bridge is not drawn by a dark outline: its arches appear thanks to small differences between the blue of the water, the purple of the stone and the golden light.
Look at the work
The bridge is revealed in the mist by its arches and their vertical reflections
The deck occupies a narrow strip slightly below the center. On the left, white smoke rises from the bank and reaches the sky. The buildings are reduced to purple verticals; their lack of detail reinforces the atmospheric distance.
In the lower part, the yellow, pink and green touches lengthen horizontally. Two small dark boats serve as points of scale. Under each arch, more vertical reflections descend into the river and prevent the luminous surface from becoming uniform.
Monet retained the structure of Waterloo Bridge while removing almost any line: the bridge held together by a rhythm of cold values placed between powdery skies and golden water.
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.
An industrial silhouette reduced to the essentials
The distant shore is a succession of blue-purple masses and chimneys. Specifying them too much would destroy the impression of distance created by the fog.
Arches built without black
The bridge openings remain cold and slightly darker than the deck. Their edges must remain flexible to belong to the same atmosphere as the sky.
Water warmer than the sky
The yellows and roses in the foreground capture the light. The small green and brown boats give scale, but their contrast should never dominate the surface of the river.
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 full view measures 1200 × 850 px and the two native cropping 680 × 600 px. No files have been enlarged; all three images correspond to the exact Wildenstein 1555 version and are real WebPs.
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.
Santa Barbara 1968.20.7, Wildenstein 1555
This oil on canvas from 1900 measures 65.4 × 92.7 cm. The Santa Barbara Museum of Art preserves it under number 1968.20.7; it corresponds to number 1555 of the catalog raisonné.
Legacy of Katharine Dexter McCormick
The work entered the museum through the bequest of Katharine Dexter McCormick, in memory of her husband Stanley McCormick. This provenance precisely distinguishes the Santa Barbara version.
The pattern observed from the Savoy
Monet took over Waterloo Bridge during his stays in London around 1899 -1901, then completed several paintings in Giverny. Each version isolates a particular state of fog, smoke and light on the Thames.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The exact version Santa Barbara 1968.20.7, W1555
- The original format of 65.4 × 92.7 cm
- Readable arches without black outline
- The contrast between lilac gray sky and pinkish yellow water
Work sheet
| Title | Waterloo Bridge, Santa Barbara W1555 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1900 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 65.4 × 92.7 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, United States |
| Inventory | 1968.20.7 · Wildenstein 1555 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
Pearl gray, lilac, smoky blue and golden yellow make up a soft, urban palette. This horizontal reproduction is suitable above a sofa, sideboard or desk, on an ivory, blue gray or pale mauve wall.
