On view
William R. Elfers Gallery
The Houses of Parliament, Seagulls,
1903
In this view of London’s Houses of Parliament on a foggy day, Monet captured an atmosphere suffused with moisture, dissolving the distinctions between sky, buildings, and water. The flock of seagulls scattered across the painting’s surface enlivens the scene while calling attention to the picture plane.
Monet made three trips to London between 1899 and 1901 to paint the Thames River and its surrounding architecture in varying light and weather conditions. He exhibited thirty-seven of these pictures in 1904 at the Paris gallery of his dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel, and sold this painting to him the following year. Verging on abstraction, this is among the most daring of Monet’s nineteen paintings of the Houses of Parliament.
Information
1903
England, London
Purchased from the artist by Durand-Ruel, Paris, France, October 30, 1905 (Stock no. 8010); [1]
Purchased from the above by Mr. and Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer (1847-1907 and 1855-1929), New York, NY, Jan. 26. 1906 until 1907; [2]
Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, New York, NY by inheritance; [3]
Consigned by the above to Durand-Ruel, New York, NY Nov. 30, 1908 [for $5,000]. [4]
William Church Osborn, New York, NY from 1908. [5]
Mrs. Vanderbilt Webb (1892-1979), by 1968; [6]
Bequest by the above to the Princeton University Art Museum, 1979 [7].
Notes:
[1] Splendid Legacy The Havemeyer Collection. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993.
[2] Wildenstein, Daniel. Monet. Taschen, 1996; Daniel Wildenstein. Claude Monet: Vie Et Oeuvre. Vol. IV. Geneva: La Bibliothèque Des Arts, 1986.
[3] Splendid Legacy The Havemeyer Collection. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993.
[4] Splendid Legacy The Havemeyer Collection. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993.
[5] Wildenstein, Daniel. Monet. Taschen, 1996.
[6] Wildenstein, Daniel. Monet. Taschen, 1996.
[7] Wildenstein, Daniel. Monet. Taschen, 1996.
- Gustave Geffroy, Claude Monet, sa vie, son œuvre, (Paris: G. Crès et cie, 1922)., p. 281 (illus.)
- Leon Werth, Claude Monet, (Paris: G. Crès & cie, 1928)., pl. 53
- William C. Seitz, Claude Monet; seasons and moments, (New York: The Museum in collabroation with the Los Angeles County Museum; Garden City, NY: Distributed by Doubleday & Co., 1960)., p. 62, no. 87
- Impressionist treasures from private collections in New York: [exhibition] for the benefit of St. Luke's Hospital Center Building Fund, January 12-29, 1966, (New York: M. Knoedler & Co., inc., 1966?)., p. 28 (illus.)
- Four masters of impressionism: [Exhibition] October 24 - November 30, 1968, (New York: Acquavella Galleries, 1968)., no. 65 (illus.)
- Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: biographie et catalogue raisonné, (Lausanne; Paris: La Bibliothèque des arts, 1974-)., Vol. 4: no. 1509
- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1979," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 39, no. 1/2 (1980): p. 40-63., p. 56
- Grace Seiberling, Monet's series, (New York: Garland Pub., 1981)., p. 376, no. 44
- Paloma Esteban Leal, Claude Monet, 1840-1926: Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid, 29 de abril-30 de junio 1986, (Madrid: Ministerio de Cultura, con la colaboración de la Fundación para el Apoyo de la Cultura, 1986)., no. 101, p. 504; p. 395 (illus.)
- Frances Weitzenhoffer, The Havemeyers: impressionism comes to America, (New York: H.N. Abrams, 1986)., p. 184, pl. 138
-
Malcolm Warner, The Image of London: views by travellers and emigrés, 1550-1920, (New York; London: Trefoll Publications, in association with Barbican Art Gallery, 1987).
, cat. no. 255; p. 185-186 - Grace Seiberling, Monet in London, (Atlanta, GA: High Museum of Art; Seattle, WA: distributed by University of Washington Press, 1988)., cat. no. 23; fig. 67; p. 55, 59, 84, 102; p. 91 (illus.)
- Alice Cooley Frelinghuysen, Splendid legacy: the Havemeyer collection, (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993)., p. 367, no. 413; p. 227, pl. 220; p. 366 (illus.); p. 36
- Stephan Koja, Claude Monet, (Munich; New York: Prestel, 1996)., p. 140, fig. 74 (color)
- Anne-Birgitte Fonsmark, Impressionists in town: Ordrupgaard, Copenhagen, 1996, (Copenhagen: Ordrupgaard, 1996)., cat. no. 48; p. 119 (illus.)
- Daniel Wildenstein, Monet (Köln: Taschen; Wildenstein Institute, 1996)., Vol. 4: p. 718, no. 1612
- Katharine Lochnan et al., Turner, Whistler, Monet, (Toronto, ON; London: Tate Publishing in association with the Art Gallery of Ontario, 2004)., p. 179-180
- Hiroshi Matsuda, Claude Monet: A Hymn to Light, (Hiroshima: The Executive Committe of Exhibition, Monet, 2004)., p. 118, no. 44; p. 119 (illus.)
- Ségolène Le Men, Monet, (Citadelles & Mazenod, 2010).
