À propos de l’œuvre
L'Aiguille de Cléopâtre et Charing Cross Bridge, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · 1899 · Cairo · Wildenstein 1543
Cleopatra's Needle and Charing Cross Bridgehand painted reproduction
Cleopatra's obelisk stands in front of Charing Cross Bridge in a lavender blue mist. Parliament fades into the distance, arches pass through the composition and pink and purple reflections stretch the monuments in the Thames.
Look at the work
The vertical obelisk responds to the long bridge and transforms the view of the Thames
Placed slightly to the left of the center, Cleopatra's Needle forms the sharpest vertical in the painting. It crosses the strip of the bridge then extends into the water. Around it, piers and boats are treated in much more diffuse blue and purple masses.
On the right, the Parliament and its tower are reduced to a purple silhouette in the mist. The river occupies the lower half and receives vertical reflections, immediately cut by horizontal touches of pink, blue and gray which maintain the movement of the surface.
Monet organizes London here around a simple and powerful contrast: the motionless tip of the obelisk facing an atmosphere where everything else seems to dissolve.
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 obelisk as the axis of the composition
The shape must remain more stable than the bridge and the Parliament, without becoming a black outline. Its verticality gives their measure to the horizontals of the Thames.
A bridge present by its intervals
Arches and piers alternate in a blue-purple range. Their readability depends on the fog spaces between the shapes more than on a detailed architectural drawing.
Vertical reflections constantly interrupted
Monuments descend into the water in colorful trails, then horizontal gestures break these lines. This crossed rhythm prevents any frozen mirror effect.
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 photograph of the exact version, taken at the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil museum and distributed under CC0 license, measures 735 × 542 px. The details of 540 × 360 px and 410 × 390 px are direct cropping. No files have been enlarged; all three images are real WebPs.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
These landmarks concern the Wildenstein 1543 version, identified by its title, its dating, its format and its conservation at the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil museum.
The Wildenstein 1543 version
This oil on canvas measuring 73 × 100 cm is dated 1899 and signed lower right. The Wildenstein catalog distinguishes it by number 1543.
A work from the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil museum
The painting belongs to the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo. The reference photograph was taken in front of the work in the museum and allows this version to be precisely identified.
Cleopatra's Needle on the Victoria Embankment
The ancient obelisk was installed on the banks of the Thames in 1878. From the Savoy Hotel, its vertical is naturally in front of Charing Cross Bridge and becomes a recurring landmark of Monet's London views.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The exact Wildenstein 1543 version
- The original format of 73 × 100 cm
- The Obelisk as the main vertical
- Parliament and the bridge kept in distinct degrees of mist
Work sheet
| Title | Cleopatra's Needle and Charing Cross Bridge |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1899 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 73 × 100 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum, Cairo, Egypt |
| Inventory | Wildenstein 1543 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
Lavender, gray blue, misty pink and deep purple give this reproduction an architectural elegance without coldness. It finds its place on a cream, pearl gray, smoked blue or plum wall, above a base unit.
