Le Parlement, soleil couchant

Le Parlement, soleil couchant (Houses of Parliament, Sunset) is a painting by Claude Monet from his series of views of the Palace of Westminster across the Thames. It is signed at lower left, and the date beside the signature reads 1902; some databases list it as 1903. It shows the palace in blue silhouette at sunset, with ribbons of pink and orange cloud streaming across a violet sky. Wildenstein lists it as number 1603, and it is in a private collection.

What you're looking at

The palace occupies the right half of the canvas, a dark blue-green mass with the great square tower rising just right of center and a row of pinnacles to the right. To the left, the river front recedes into a hazy strip of blue and lilac.

The sky is unlike any other in the series. Instead of an even glow or a hanging sun, Monet fills it with long, twisting streamers of salmon, coral and cream, as if the clouds were being pulled apart by wind. At the top of the great tower the streaks gather into a bright knot of white and yellow, the sun breaking through just behind the pinnacles. The rest of the sky is blue and violet, laid on in loose, circling strokes.

The water is the most beautiful passage. It takes up nearly half the canvas and reflects both the dark palace and the colored sky: a broad column of deep blue drops below the tower, framed by streaks of pink, lilac and pale green. The surface is calm, the reflections long and unbroken.

Streaming clouds: what makes this version distinct

Most Parliament sunsets show a uniform, colored atmosphere, purple in the Barberini's Houses of Parliament, Sunset, gold and orange in Washington's The Houses of Parliament, Sunset. Here the sky has structure: the clouds are drawn as moving bands of color, giving the picture a sense of wind and weather that the foggier canvases lack. The Musée Marmottan's London, Parliament, Reflections on the Thames has a similarly agitated sky and a strong emphasis on reflections, and the two are close in mood.

The early date on the canvas is also unusual. Most of the series is dated 1903 or 1904, the years Monet finished the canvases at Giverny before his 1904 exhibition. A 1902 date suggests this one was among the first he considered done.

How it was painted

Monet painted the Parliament views from St Thomas' Hospital, on the south bank of the Thames directly opposite the Palace of Westminster, during trips to London in 1900 and 1901. From there, in the late afternoon, the sun went down behind the building. He kept many canvases going at once and returned to each when its light came back, then worked on them for years at Giverny. The sky here is painted thickly, with the cloud ribbons laid on top in single, loaded strokes. The palace is built from vertical touches of blue and green, and the reflections from long horizontal strokes that echo the colors above.

Ownership

The painting is in a private collection, and its ownership history is not well documented in public sources.

Where to see it

It is not on public view. For museum versions, see our Houses of Parliament series hub and Where to See Monet. Monet in London covers his Thames campaigns, and Claude Monet his life.