À propos de l’œuvre
Le pont de Waterloo à Londres, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · 1902 · Tokyo · P.1959-0155
Waterloo Bridge in Londonhand painted reproduction
Waterloo Bridge appears as very pale pink architecture amidst lilac mist. The arches dissolve into the Thames; on the deck, a few yellow touches signal traffic, while a brown sailing boat climbs into the foreground almost without breaking the silence of the water.
Look at the work
The bridge becomes a pink transparency above an almost limitless Thames
The apron crosses the center but its value remains close to that of the sky. The arches are only visible by faint variations of mauve, green-gray and pink. A few yellow and green buildings stand out against the horizon, enough to measure the depth without closing the fog.
In the foreground, a narrow boat carries an olive brown sail and several small figures. Their contrast remains moderate. The touches of the water are wide, horizontal and lavender, with pale green passages that extend the bridge openings.
Monet keeps the deck, the passers-by and the boat at the limit of visibility: each shape is exact, but the atmosphere remains the real subject of the painting.
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.
Arches obtained by tiny gaps
The bridge should not be redesigned with a gray outline. The openings are born from very small differences between pink, mauve, sea green and pale blue.
Traffic reduced to a few yellow accents
Vehicles and apron loops are not individualized. The little warm touches must keep their scale and discontinuous character.
A boat present but retained
The olive brown sail is the sharpest contrast in the foreground. It must remain thin, surrounded by mist and connected to an almost erased hull.
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 main view measures 2200 × 1431 px. Details of 1350 × 650 px and 1200 × 620 px are direct cropping of version P.1959-0155. No artificial enlargements were applied; all three files are true verified 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.
Inventory P.1959-0155 of the Tokyo Museum
This oil on canvas measuring 65.7 × 100.5 cm is signed and dated "Claude Monet 1902" at the bottom left. It corresponds to Wildenstein number 1594.
Waterloo Bridge seen from the Savoy Hotel
Monet paints the bridge in a bird's eye view from the balcony of the Savoy Hotel. The museum highlights the slightly reddish range and the figures that seem to float in the fog.
Returned to Japan in 1959
Probably acquired from Monet for Kôjiro Matsukata around December 1921, the painting was sequestered in 1944 then transferred to the Japanese government in January 1959.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The faint contrasts between bridge, sky and Thames
- The varied arches without added outline
- Yellow apron accents kept tiny
- The olive brown boat present without being darkened or overdefined
Work sheet
| Title | Waterloo Bridge in London |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1902 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 65.7 × 100.5 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan |
| Inventory | P.1959-0155 · Wildenstein 1594 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
The lilac pink, gray blue and sea green range brings calm light to a large wall. The horizontal format is suitable above a sofa or sideboard, with linen, light wood, pearl gray or a very pale old pink.
