Writing About Expressions of Nature Show at BMA

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Expressions of Nature
In this paper, I have chosen the art exhibition held at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Expressions of Nature: Early 20th-Century Landscapes, to analyze the artworks exhibited in it. Although how the other artworks are contributing to the wholeness of the exhibition will be discussed, but a special focus will be drawn to Claude Monet. Charing Cross Bridge, Reflections on the Thames: 1899-1904.
Claude Monet was a French artist who made about 100 paintings during his visit to London (1899-1904). Out of these 100 paintings, 37 were of Charing Cross Bridge but he only managed to finish 12 while he was in London and rest were taken by him to his studio. The specific painting at the Baltimore Museum of Art is one of few finished artworks by Monet, the other unfinished and finished artworks are scattered around the world.
Being an artist who was part of the Impressionist movement Monet has depicted the trueness of the London environment in this painting. The brushstrokes have been used to show the patterns of light and colors uniquely. These strokes may not be as thin and small as other artists of his age had used, but Monet’s use of such strokes has been admired by the all and sundry around the world. He also had his critics, but that is not a point of discussion here.
The artist keeps the foreground (bridge) in focus and smartly uses the colors and lines to keep the background buildings out of focus, in other words, he does not give them any stroke to bring out details.
If we see the painting closely it has a misty feeling to it which is a combination of fog and the pollution that was apparent in London during the 19th century (Stillman & Garvan 14). The city of London was overcrowded, had slums mostly in the eastern parts but could be found generally everywhere, the outbreaks of diseases one after the other, crime rate at the highest level where people felt unsafe, and the poverty were dominating the city. There was only a very small percentage of people who were well-off and lived in a better, clean and safe environment around the countryside and some other parts of London but the rest were worst-off. Although t...