Charing Cross Bridge

Charing Cross Bridge from 1900 inaugurates Monet's engagement with the railway bridge that carried trains south from Charing Cross station across the Thames. Unlike the historic stone dignity of Waterloo Bridge or the Gothic drama of the Houses of Parliament, Charing Cross Bridge was a utilitarian iron structure of the industrial age — an unusual choice that reflected Monet's interest in the modern city as well as the dramatic steam plumes from passing trains. The Indianapolis Museum of Art holds this early version of the motif.

The iron bridge's horizontal span is broken by steam clouds rising from locomotives, which Monet uses as devices for further dissolving the boundary between solid structure and atmospheric vapour. The composition is organized around warm-cool contrasts — the steamy pinks and oranges of train emissions against the cool blues and greens of the Thames.