Friday, February 8, 2019

Worcester Art Museum - Monet's Waterloo Bridge: Vision and Process

Friday, Feb. 8, 2019 - Wendy and I both "Headed West" out to the Worcester Art Museum to see their exhibition: Monet's Waterloo Bridge: Vision and Process:

Spoiler Alert: Very Cool - I Highly Recommend it!! and it closes April 28, 2019

Claude Monet was both Very Good and Very Prolific (it is estimated that there are currently 2,500 works by Monet, in museums and private collections). He loved exploring a single subject - the effect of light at different times of day, how the atmosphere changes from season to season (and day to day). These paintings are know as his "Series" paintings, and they include studies of:

Haystacks (National Gallery of Australia, the Art Institute of Chicago, MFA Boston),

Rouen Cathedral (J. Paul Getty Museum [Los Angeles], Pola Museum of Art [Hakone, Japan], Pushkin Museum [Moscow], MFA Boston),

Poplars (Tate Gallery Britain, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Princetion University Museum of Art, MFA Boston),

Mornings on the Seine (MFA Boston, the White House, Musée Marmottan Monet [Paris]),

Water Lilies (Saint Louis Art Museum, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art [Kansas City]),

Houses of Parliament (MFA St. Petersburg FL, Kunsthaus Zürich, Kaiser Wilhelm Museum [Krefeld, Germany], High Museum of Art [Atlanta]),

Charing Cross Bridge (National Museum of Western Art [Tokyo], Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Baltimore Museum of Art, Shelburne Museum [Shelburne, Vermont]),

Waterloo Bridge (Hermitage Museum [Saint Petersburg, Russia], the Hugh Lane [Dublin, Ireland], Lowe Art Museum [Coral Gables, Florida], Worcester Art Museum).

It is a WONDERFUL experience to be in a room with multiple examples of Monet's series paintings. I have experienced that:

Sept. 14, 2013 at the Art institute of Chicago:


April 28, 2014 at National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC:


Oct. 8, 2015 at the Art institute of Chicago:


Dec. 3, 2015 at the MFA, Boston:


May 28, 2017 at National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC:


Feb. 8, 2019 at Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA:


In my research, I have found 25 "Waterloo Bridge" pieces, including 2 pastels. 9 are International (Japan, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Russia, Switzerland, and Canada [2]), and 16 are here in the USA. Of the 16 USA pieces, 9 are now on exhibition in Worcester!

Waterloo Bridge, London, at Dusk, 1904 (National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC)


Waterloo Bridge, Sunlight Effect with Smoke, 1903 (Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD)


Waterloo Bridge, Sunlight Effect (Effet de Soleil), 1903 (Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO)


Waterloo Bridge, Gray Weather, 1900 (Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL)


Waterloo Bridge, 1903 (Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA)


Waterloo Bridge, London, 1903 (Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA)


Waterloo Bridge, Veiled Sun, 1903 (Memorial Art Gallery, Univ. of Rochester, Rochester, NY)


Waterloo Bridge, Sunlight Effect, ca. 1900 (dated 1903) (Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI)


Waterloo Bridge, 1900-1901 (Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA)


And if this inspires you to take a ROAD TRIP, the other USA "Waterloo Bridge" paintings are:

Waterloo Bridge, Morning Fog, 1901 (Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA)

Waterloo Bridge, Gray Day, 1903
Waterloo Bridge, London, at Sunset, 1904
Waterloo Bridge, 1901 pastel (National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC)

Waterloo Bridge, 1903 (Lowe Art Museum, Univ. of Miami, Coral Gables, FL)

Waterloo Bridge, Sunlight Effect, 1903 (The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL)

Waterloo Bridge, 1900 (Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA)

We had a great lunch at their Cafe, and there was other art I saw today, but this blog is all about the Exhibition - As I said: I Highly Recommend it!! and it closes April 28, 2019.