À propos de l’œuvre
Le Parlement, symphonie en bleu, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · 1903 · High Museum 60.5 · W1601
Parliament, symphony in blue W1601hand painted reproduction
Westminster appears as a blue-purple silhouette almost absorbed in fog. The Thames, the sky and the monument share the same range, only warmed by a few pink glows. The High Museum keeps this painting under inventory 60.5; it corresponds to Wildenstein 1601.
Look at the work
Parliament reduced to a blue presence in the fog
The Victoria Tower dominates the center left, while the other spiers emerge more weakly to the right. The base of the building merges with the river; a small dark boat is enough to recall the scale of this monumental mass.
No neutral gray describes the fog. Monet superimposes blue, purple, pink and cream until the boundaries between water, architecture and sky become uncertain. The lack of clear depth already brings the composition closer to abstraction.
W1601 makes fog a pictorial material: the thicker it becomes, the more Westminster stone loses its weight.
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.
High Museum version 60.5
The official notice gives an oil on canvas from 1903 measuring approximately 81.3 × 92.4 cm. The catalog raisonné identifies it as Wildenstein 1601.
A view from Saint Thomas' Hospital
Monet works from a hospital terrace, directly opposite Parliament. The backlight and mists of the Thames transform the building into a silhouette without readable windows.
A work acquired for Atlanta in 1960
The High Museum purchased the painting through the Great Painting Fund, in homage to Sarah Belle Brodnax Hansell. Its accession number 60.5 recalls this entry into the collection.
Reference image
Read this specific version
Only one image is used: the exact scan of W1601 from the High Museum of Art, converted into a real WebP of 2048 × 1803 px.
A monumental but unstable silhouette
The towers must remain recognizable without hard contours. The base is lost in the mist and must not be separated from the Thames by a continuous line.
Periwinkle blue, purple and misty pink
Cold shades dominate, but pink passages of sky and water prevent monochromy. Their low contrast gives atmospheric thickness.
A free and veiled touch
The vertical marks of the building are covered with softer passages. This superposition must remain visible so that the fog appears to envelop the scene.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
The High Museum of Art documents this version under inventory 60.5: 1903, approximately 81.3 × 92.4 cm and Wildenstein 1601.
Parliament, symphony in blue, W1601
The historical title describes the dominant of the canvas. The position of the towers and the faint pink glow distinguish it from states with setting sun or orange fog.
High Museum of Art, 60.5
The painting is exhibited in Atlanta and was acquired in 1960. The accession number allows the reproduced version to be unambiguously linked to the museum notice.
Nineteen states of Parliament
Monet paints Westminster at different times of the end of the day. The stable pattern allows it to compare fog intensity and color transformations.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The exact version of the High Museum, inventory 60.5 and W1601
- The original horizontal format of approximately 81.3 × 92.4 cm
- The blue silhouette of the towers without rigid contours
- The very discreet pink glows in the sky and the Thames
Work sheet
| Title | Parliament, symphony in blue W1601 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1903 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 81.3 × 92.4 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | High Museum of Art, Atlanta, United States |
| Inventory | 60.5 · Wildenstein 1601 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
Its periwinkle blues and misty purples create a peaceful presence in a living room, bedroom or office. Smoked glass, blond wood and bluish gray walls reinforce its light without cooling the room.
