À propos de l’œuvre
Le pont de Waterloo, matin brumeux, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · 1902 · Hamburger Kunsthalle · 65 × 100 cm
Waterloo Bridge, 1902hand painted reproduction
Waterloo Bridge unfolds in a pearly range of blue, mauve and pink. The dark arches give a foundation to the bridge, while the chimneys of the south bank and their colorful fumes dissolve in a sky almost confused with the Thames.
Look at the work
A dark structure is enough to organize a London almost entirely made of air
The apron forms a slightly descending blue-purple band, punctuated with small light accents. The piles are reflected in the water, but their doubles are never symmetrical. To the left and center, the arches open onto pearly passages which let the same light circulate between sky, mist and river.
The blue chimneys in the background rise in pale pink and mauve gray plumes. Some verticals remain sharp at their base then disappear; others are only traces. In the water, the colder horizontal touches take up these fumes without producing a literal reflection.
The strength of the bridge lies in a few deep blues; everything else in the city seems to be able to dissolve into the pinks, mauves and grays of the atmosphere.
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.
Dark arches but never black
Blue, purple and cool green build the structure. Maintaining their variations is essential for the bridge to remain solid without becoming a cut-out silhouette.
Pink smoke mixed with the sky
Plumes should not be drawn as separate clouds. Their edges gradually disappear into the purple and gray layers of the background.
Water more horizontal than the sky
The difference between the two areas is mainly due to the direction of the brush and a few colder bruises. Reproduction must preserve this subtle distinction.
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 × 1467 px. Details of 1450 × 800 px and 1450 × 760 px come directly from this version of the Hamburger Kunsthalle. No files have been enlarged; all three images 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.
A 1902 Waterloo Bridge in Hamburg
The Hamburger Kunsthalle preserves this oil on canvas dated 1902. The format of 65 × 100 cm corresponds to the horizontal proportions regularly used by Monet for the series.
The Thames observed from the Savoy Hotel
During his stays in London, Monet worked from a room at the Savoy Hotel. Waterloo Bridge crosses his field of vision, with industrial activities on the South Shore in the background.
A series developed between London and Giverny
Rapid changes in fog and light lead Monet to move from one canvas to another. He then continues these ensembles in his workshop, in order to adjust their harmonies.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- Arches built in blue and purple, without uniform black
- Pink smoke melted in the purple sky
- The subtle distinction between the touches of the sky and those of the water
- The small, clear accents of the apron preserved at their right scale
Work sheet
| Title | Waterloo Bridge, 1902 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1902 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 65 × 100 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany |
| Inventory | Hamburger Kunsthalle |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
The pearly palette of this version brings soft light to sober interiors. Blue gray, mauve and smoky pink work with oak, natural linen, pearl gray and warm white walls, without weighing down the horizontal format.
