Pont de Londres (Charing Cross Bridge, London)

Pont de Londres (Charing Cross Bridge, London) from 1902, now at Chartwell — the former home of Winston Churchill, who was himself a passionate amateur painter — introduces an unusual institutional context for a Monet canvas. Churchill's admiration for Monet's work was genuine and informed, and this painting's presence at what is now a National Trust property in Kent connects the French master's London series to British cultural history. The work shows Charing Cross Bridge in warm atmospheric conditions, the railway bridge taking on an almost golden quality unusual in the predominantly cool-toned series.

The warm palette here — ochres and golds in the atmospheric haze above the bridge — suggests lighting conditions Monet found on one of his more favorably lit London mornings. The river reflections carry complementary violets and blues beneath the warm upper atmosphere, the contrast giving the canvas unusual chromatic depth.