Monet at the Savoy Hotel and the London Fogs 1899-1901
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Monet at the Savoy Hotel and the London fogs 1899-1901 by Soraya Farah Khan A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Birmingham January 2011 1 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. SYNOPSIS: Monet painted his „London Series‟ of 95 images between 1899 and 1902 and this study examines in detail the geometry, meteorology and the content of eight paintings of Waterloo Bridge and one painting of Charing Cross Bridge. A method based on solar geometry is used to estimate the exact date of these nine paintings. All nine paintings either contain a clear representation of the sun within the scene, or the position of the sun can be clearly inferred. This study shows that although Monet reworked the content of these images on subsequent days when the sun was in a similar position, he did not change the position of the sun. Monet resided at the Savoy Hotel during his stays in 1900 and 1901, painting his scenes from a suite located on the fifth floor - which this study identifies for the first time. Letters to Monet's wife and contemporary weather data are used to verify the probable dates. This analysis confirms that Monet painted what he saw and that his London Series can be utilised as a pictorial 'weather diary' of typical Victorian London fogs. 2 CONTENTS: Synopsis p2 Table of Contents p3 List of Figures p8 List of Tables p12 Acknowledgements p16 Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1. Abstract p17 1.2. Brief introduction of the research area p17 1.3. General research outline p23 1.4. Outline of thesis p24 Chapter 2 Theoretical framework 2.1. Introduction p26 2.2. Geographical context p26 2.3. The perception of art p27 2.4. The evolution of skies in art p32 2.5. The deconstruction of Monet‟s London Series p34 2.6. Scientific context – Introduction to the London fogs p37 2.7. Meteorological optics p47 3 2.8. The colour of the fog p52 2.9. Visual Culture p55 2.10. Visual Studies p56 Chapter 3 Context of Monet and his work 3.1. The founding of Impressionism p59 3.2. Photographs of London c. 1900 p60 3.3. Paintings of London c. 1900 p64 3.4. Monet‟s life p73 3.5. Monet‟s series paintings p77 Chapter 4 Methods 4.1. Introduction p87 4.2. Research design p87 4.3. Quantitative approaches – solar geometry p89 4.4. Limitations of research p94 4.5. Summary and final comments p95 Chapter 5 The Savoy Hotel 5.1. Monet‟s residence at the Savoy Hotel p97 4 5.2. Quantitative approaches p101 5.3. Waterloo Bridge p107 5.4. Charing Cross Bridge and Westminster Bridge p110 5.5. Solar geometry analysis p116 5.6. Geometrical analysis of Waterloo Bridge paintings sun visible p117 5.7. Geometrical analysis of Waterloo Bridge paintings sun position p126 inferred 5.8. Geometrical analysis of Charing Cross Bridge paintings sun visible p135 5.9. Geometrical analysis of Charing Cross Bridge paintings p140 sun position inferred Chapter 6 London’s climate 1899-1901 6.1. Introduction p151 6.2. Introduction to London‟s changing climate p151 6.3. Observed weather data for the periods Monet was in London p161 1899-1901 6.4. A comparison of the observed weather data and the calculated p163 dates of Monet‟t paintings 6.5. Weather data from Monet‟s letters p181 6.6. A comparison of Monet‟s letters, the observed weather data and p186 the calculated dates of Monet‟s paintings 6.7. Discussion p188 5 Chapter 7 Conclusions 7.1. Introduction p195 7.2. Key findings p197 7.3. Future work p203 7.4. Final words p203 References p205 Bibliography p219 Appendix 1 Board of Trade plan of Charing Cross Bridge for 1884 p222 2 Geometrical analysis of the Waterloo Bridge paintings p223 3 Royal Horticultural Society‟s weather diaries and weather reports p226 for Westminster, Brixton and Kew 4 Climate of London for 1971-2000 p288 5 Fog observations from Brixton weather station, Kew weather station p289 and The Times newspaper 6 Relative humidity calculations p291 7 Analysis of Monet‟s paintings with respect to the Royal Horticultural p303 Society‟s weather diaries and weather reports for Westminster, Brixton and Kew 6 8 Monet‟s letters p323 9 Diary of fog/mist/haze events in London from sources used in this p327 thesis 10 Comparative analysis of Monet‟s paintings p336 11 Dates for Waterloo Bridge and Charing Cross Bridge paintings p338 12 Monet at the Savoy p340 7 LIST OF FIGURES: 1.1 „London, Houses of Parliament, Effects of Sun in the Fog‟ Claude Monet p20 2.1 „Girls on the Pier‟ Edvard Munch p36 2.2 Built-up area of London in 1880 and 1914 p38 2.3 Monthly smoke concentrations for London in 1863 p50 3.1 „Westminster Abbey‟ Alvin Langdon Coburn p61 3.2 „Waterloo Bridge‟ Alvin Langdon Coburn p62 3.3 „From Westminster Bridge‟ Alvin Langdon Coburn p63 3.4 „On the Embankment‟ Alvin Langdon Coburn p63 3.5 „Houses of Parliament‟ Alvin Langdon Coburn p64 3.6 „London‟ (1809) Joseph Mallord William Turner p66 3.7 „The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons‟ (1834) Joseph p66 Mallord William Turner 3.8 „The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last Berth to be broken up‟ p67 (1838) Joseph Mallord William Turner 3.9 „Nocturne in Blue and Silver; Chelsea‟ (1871) James Abbott McNeill p68 Whistler 3.10 „Symphony in Gray: Early Morning Thames‟ (c. 1871) James Abbott p69 McNeill Whistler 3.11 „Nocturne: Grey and Gold – Westminster Bridge‟ (1871-74) James p70 Abbott McNeill Whistler 3.12 „Nocturne: Blue and Silver – Cremorne Lights‟ (1872) James Abbott p70 McNeill Whistler 8 3.13 „Nocturne in Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge‟ (1872-75) p71 James Abbott McNeill Whistler 3.14 „London Bridge‟ (1885) James Abbott McNeill Whistler p72 3.15 „Grain Stacks, End of Summer, Morning Effect‟ (1891) Claude Monet p78 3.16 „Grain Stacks, Snow‟ (1891) Claude Monet p79 3.17 „Rouen Cathedral, the West Portal, Dull Weather‟ (dated 1894, p81 painted (1892)) Claude Monet 3.18 „Rouen Cathedral, Full Sunlight‟ (1894) Claude Monet p81 5.1 „Savoy Pigeons‟ (1896) James Abbott McNeill Whistler p98 5.2 „Evening, Little Waterloo Bridge‟ (1896) James Abbott Mc Neill Whistler p99 5.3 1897 map of London p102 5.4 The Savoy Hotel and rooms occupied by Monet in 1899 (6th floor) and p104 in 1900 and 1901 (5th floor) 5.5 Azimuthal angles of landmarks in Westminster p105 5.6 Angle of elevation and viewing distance from Waterloo Bridge to Monet p110 on the fifth floor of the Savoy Hotel 5.7 Angles of elevation and viewing distances from Charing Cross Bridge and p112 Westminster Bridge to Monet on the fifth floor of the Savoy Hotel 5.8 Distance between Charing Cross Bridge and Westminster Bridge as viewed p113 by Monet on the fifth floor of the Savoy Hotel 5.9 Angles of elevation and viewing distances from Charing Cross Bridge and p114 Westminster Bridge to Monet on the sixth floor of the Savoy Hotel 9 5.10 Distance between Charing Cross Bridge and Westminster Bridge as viewed p115 by Monet on the sixth floor of the Savoy Hotel 5.11 „Waterloo Bridge, le soleil dans le brouillard‟ (dated 1904) Claude Monet p117 5.12 Landmarks on the South Bank visible in the Waterloo Bridge paintings p118/ p127 5.13 Azimuthal and elevation angles of landmarks on the South Bank visible p118/ in the Waterloo Bridge paintings p128 5.14 „Waterloo Bridge, soleil dans le brouillard‟ (dated 1903) Claude Monet p121 5.15 „Waterloo Bridge‟ (undated) Claude Monet p123 5.16 „Waterloo Bridge, brouillard‟ (undated) Claude Monet p125 5.17 „Londres, Waterloo Bridge‟ (dated 1900) Claude Monet p127 5.18 „Waterloo Bridge, temps couvert‟ (dated 1904) Claude Monet p131 5.19 „Waterloo Bridge, effet de soleil‟ (dated 1903) Claude Monet p132 5.20 „Waterloo Bridge, effet de soleil‟ (dated 1903) Claude Monet p134 5.21 „Charing Cross Bridge, brouillard sur la Tamise‟ (dated 1903) Claude p136 Monet 5.22 Landmarks on the South Bank visible in the Charing Cross Bridge p137 paintings 5.23 Azimuthal and elevation angles of landmarks on the South Bank visible p137 in the Charing Cross Bridge paintings 5.24 „Charing Cross Bridge, reflets sur la Tamise‟ (undated) Claude Monet p140 5.25 Elevation of the sun p141 5.26 Revised elevation of the sun p142 10 5.27 „Charing Cross Bridge, la Tamise‟ (dated 1903) Claude Monet p144 5.28 Elevation of the sun p145 5.29 Revised elevation of the sun p146 5.30 „Charing Cross Bridge, la Tamise‟ (dated 1903) Claude Monet p147 6.1 Köppen-Geiger Climate classification p152 6.2 Air pollurion in London, 1700-1950 p154 6.3 Daily means of PM10 particulate s (µg/m3) at Westminster (Marylebone p155 Road), January 1st 2009- January 1st 2010 6.4 Locations of Westminster, Brixton, Chiswick, Kew and Greenwich with p157 respect to the Savoy Hotel 6.5 Location of Chiswick with respect to the Savoy Hotel p164 6.6 Locations of Westminster, Brixton and Chiswick with respect to the Savoy p165 Hotel 6.7 Locations of Westminster, Brixton, Chiswick and Kew with respect to the p168 Savoy Hotel 6.8 Locations of Chiswick, Westminster and Brixton with respect to the p181 Savoy Hotel 6.9 Days fog was observed at Brixton and West