The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 10, 2023

The Houses of Parliament from Westminster Bridge

1906

André Derain

(French, 1880–1954)

France, 20th century

Oil on canvas

Framed: 106 x 124.5 x 10 cm (41 3/4 x 49 x 3 15/16 in.); Unframed: 73.6 x 92 cm (29 x 36 1/4 in.)

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1983.67

© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Location

223 20th Century Avant-Garde

Fun Fact

Derain painted this view of Parliament over a century ago, but you can still stand on Westminster Bridge and see the same vista. Here Derain used bright colors to heighten the intensity of the scene. Why do you think he painted the buildings in vibrant reds and yellows?

Description

This painting is one of several views Derain painted of London between 1905 and 1906. Among Derain's finest works, these paintings are classic statements of mature Fauvism, a style of intense, arbitrary color and violent brushwork, first developed around 1904 by Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck, and Henri Matisse. The Fauves (wild beasts) aimed for the complete liberation of color from natural appearances, using it instead for purely compositional and expressive purposes.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Signed lower left: "a derain / '06"

Provenance
(A. Vollard, Paris); H. Gonzalez, Mexico City; Van der Velde coll., Le Havre; (London sale 1978); (E. V. Thaw)
Exhibition history

Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida (1/16/2005 - 4/17/2005): "Claude Monet and Modernist London" ex. cat. no. 7 , p. 62.

Andre Derain Retrospective. Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (organizer) (November 8, 1994-March 15, 1995).

Claude Monet and Modernist London. Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg, FL (organizer) (January 16-April 17, 2005).

Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1983.67