Focus on this artwork and discuss the Context.
Under exile during the Franco-Prussian War, Monet travelled to London for the first time in 1870. He became enthralled with the city, and vowed to return to it someday. Monet's fascination with London lay primarily in its fogs, a byproduct of the Industrial Revolution. Writers hypothesize that Monet was also inspired by contemporaries J. M. W. Turner and James Abbott McNeill Whistler, who were similarly fascinated by London's atmosphere. Thus, in 1899, Monet returned to London and rented a room in the Savoy Hotel, which offered an extensive viewpoint from which to begin his series of the city.Between 1899 and 1905, Monet periodically travelled to London to work on the series. He completed 37 paintings of the Charing Cross Bridge in total. In addition to painting the bridge, Monet painted other landmarks, such as the Houses of Parliament and Waterloo Bridge. While Monet began all of the paintings in London, he completed many of them in his studio in Giverny, France. As a result, some critics question whether the paintings are completely accurate. On the other hand, recent analyses of solar positioning report that Monet's paintings "contain elements of accurate observation and may potentially be considered as a proxy indicator for the Victorian smogs and atmospheric states they depict."
Waterloo Bridge Giverny Franco-Prussian War James Abbott McNeill Whistler Houses of Parliament series Industrial Revolution Charing Cross Bridge Savoy Hotel J. M. W. Turner