For an exhibition on the Impressionists in London, Tate will be reassembling six of Monet’s views of the Houses of Parliament. This is the first time so many from the series have been brought together in Europe since 1973.
The show, Impressionists in London: French Artists in Exile (1870-1904), is due to open at Tate Britain in November and then travel to the Petit Palais in Paris next year. The exhibition will begin with Monet and Pissarro fleeing the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 to come to London.
In announcing the show, at an event today (18 July) at the Savoy Hotel (where Monet stayed on later visits, after he had achieved success), Alex Farquharson, the director of Tate Britain, said that the subject now resonates with current events: “It was an important moment in Anglo-European relations, at a time when Britain became a place of refuge for those escaping conflict.”
Among the Monets will be an 1871 view of Hyde Park (Rhode Island School of Design). Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, the exhibition’s curator, points out that the artist was struck by London’s large parks, where (unlike in Paris) one was allowed to walk on the grass. Although the picture is criss-crossed by paths, none of the dozens of strollers appear to be using them.
Sisley will be represented by several paintings, including View of the Thames from Charing Cross Bridge (1874). It is being lent by Andrew Brownsword, a British entrepreneur and philanthropist who made his wealth from the greetings card business.
Pissarro returned to London in 1892 and two of his pictures will be returning to the UK for the first time. A view from the window of his house on Kew Green shows St Anne’s Church and its churchyard, where the artists Zoffany and Gainsborough are buried. It will be on loan from Professor Mark Kaufman, a Russian businessman. A landscape of the Rhododendron Dell in Kew Gardens is also coming from a private collection.
Another Pissarro loan will be of Kew Green (Musée d’Orsay, Paris), which includes a cricket match. Corbeau-Parsons points out that Pissarro was fascinated by cricket, and “his descendants are still very keen on the game”.
Among the later Monets will be an almost abstract 1901 view of the lights of Leicester Square (on loan from the collection of the deceased Swiss collector Jean Planque and his wife Suzanne). From the same visit, there will be two riverscapes of Charing Cross Bridge, done from the Savoy, both on loan from private collections. Monet was captivated by the fog of London, which inspired his series of river views in very varied conditions.
Six of Monet’s 1903-4 pictures of the Houses of Parliament painted from across the river at St Thomas’ Hospital will be the finale. These are coming from museums in Brooklyn, Chicago, New York, Le Havre, Paris and Krefeld (the Krefeld loan was only confirmed yesterday). Another from the series sold for $40m in 2015, which gives an idea of the financial value of the six loans. Corbeau-Parsons promises that the views of Parliament will represent the “tour de force” of the exhibition.
• Impressionists in London: French Artists in Exile (1870-1904), Tate Britain, 2 November-29 April 2018 (sponsored by EY) and Petit Palais, Paris, 21 June-14 October 2018
