Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926)Attributed: Westminster Study. Charcoal on paper, signed lower left, unframed. Stamp from Galerie Simon, Paris on reverse*. Possible study for a painting of Westminster Palace. This drawing has a Certificate of Authenticity from Jacob van Hassel Galerie, Rotterdam, Holland.

The number of paintings Monet produced of the Houses of Parliament and the Palace of Westminster, the home of the British Government, is not fully known. Nineteen are documented thoroughly in art houses and galleries of the world but, a favoured subject of his, the exact number remains unknowable in many respects. Taken from such an extensive series it is clear what the intention of Monet is -- such with him being ruled by colour throughout his career. The viewpoint and the light offered to the artist with such a stunning and seminal subject, and the foreground of the tidal Thames, it allowed him to explore the dance and movement of direct and ambient light. Sketched without the addition of color allowed Monet to study the essence not only with his eyes, but his whole being.

This exploration reveals an ethereal scene with the palace appearing only barely lit by the sun through the gathering fog and London smoke. The separation between water and stone is not always clear, as the two entities seem to merge – disrupted only by the swirling sky and reflection from the Thames.

*Galerie Simon info:
*NOTE: From The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art, website: After Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler returned to Paris from his Swiss exile during World War I, he opened the Galerie Simon, which was named after his partner and financial backer André Cahen, known as André Simon. The business existed from September 1920 until 1940, when it was closed due to World War II.

Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler ran the Galerie Kahnweiler until World War I. After the war, his stock was seized by the French state and liquidated at a series of four sequestration sales held at the Hôtel Drouot between 1921 and 1923. Kahnweiler was prohibited by French law from purchasing any works of his former collection in the four sales, so he formed what is known as the “Kahnweiler syndicate,” with the German dealer Alfred Flechtheim, Swiss collector Hermann Rupf, his brother Gustav Kahnweiler, Louise Leiris, and Hans Forchheimer. The syndicate bid under the pseudonym “Grassat”and the works it purchased were for Kahnweiler's new gallery. Among their purchases was Braque’s Still Life with Clarinet (Bottle and Clarinet), which they acquired at the second sale for 380 francs.

In contrast to his modest prewar gallery, Kahnweiler’s Galerie Simon, located at 29 bis, rue d’Astorg, was comprised of four light-filled large exhibition halls. The location had been secured with the help of the artist Amédée Ozenfant, with whom Kahnweiler had become acquainted in Switzerland during the war, and Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, the painter and architect who would change his name to Le Corbusier that year, who rented a neighboring space from the same landlord.

Dimensions: 7.75 x 11.5" Paper/ 13.25 x 17.25 Framed

Good aged condition.
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