From London to Berlin: Monet’s Impressionist cityscapes shine in new exhibitions across Europe

euronews (in English)

Two major exhibitions on Claude Monet have opened in Europe, with London’s Courtauld Gallery showcasing his iconic Thames series and Berlin’s Alte Nationalgalerie focusing on his rare Paris cityscapes.

Transcript

00:00♫

00:26It starts with a series of three paintings by Monet,

00:31which all deal with the modern theme of the city of Paris in turmoil.

00:36This is special because Monet is actually considered

00:39to be the most famous landscape painter of the Impressionists.

00:56♫

01:21Thirty years after his first visit in 1899,

01:24he came back and now he was a very wealthy man,

01:27able to afford the Savoy Hotel right on the Thames,

01:31and he had long wanted to paint what he called some fog effects on the Thames,

01:36and he was able to do so at the turn of the century.

01:40♫

01:47Monet absolutely loved London,

01:49and indeed he said he loved London most in the wintertime

01:52because it just had this incredible effect.

01:57The fog merged with the smoke belching from the factories on the South Bank,

02:02with the steam of the trains passing over the bridges,

02:06indeed with the steamboats on the river,

02:09and all of that with gusts of wind kind of mixed together

02:14to create this incredible kind of shroud and veil,

02:18and Monet absolutely loved that.

02:20And he said that the challenge was to capture those effects.

02:24He said they were extraordinary effects,

02:26but none lasting more than five minutes.

02:29♫

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