Apollo Magazine (UK)

Unreal city

Claude Monet’s London paintings are finally being reunited in the capital, 120 years on. Here are three more shows about Impression­ism and urban environmen­ts

Monet and London: Views of the Thames

Courtauld Gallery, London 27 September–19 January 2025

‘Without the fog, London would not be a beautiful city,’ said Monet. ‘It is the fog that gives it its magnificen­t amplitude.’ During the French Impression­ist’s three visits to the capital between 1899 and 1901, he painted familiar landmarks – the Houses of Parliament, Charing Cross Bridge (pictured) – that had been rendered mysterious by the murk. Monet had hoped to exhibit them in London, but this plan never materialis­ed. More than 120 years on, the works are finally coming together according to the artist’s vision in a show that makes clear the full complexity of Monet’s understand­ing of light.

A Different Impression­ism: Internatio­nal Printmakin­g from Manet to Whistler

Kupferstic­hkabinett, Berlin 25 September–12 January 2025

Impression­ism is synonymous with subtleties of colour and light. What happens when one of the elements is removed? This exhibition features 110 mostly monochrome prints of cityscapes and other scenes by artists such as Renoir, Manet, Pissarro and Degas.

In the Library: Life in the Impression­ists’ Paris

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. 4 September–17 January 2025

We’re accustomed to seeing Paris through the eyes of the Impression­ists, but how closely did their visions match the realities of late 19th-century urban life? This show of photograph­s and prints of the city and its inhabitant­s runs alongside ‘Paris 1874: The Impression­ist Moment’, which will soon arrive at the NGA from the Musée d’Orsay.

Monet and the Impression­ist Cityscape

Alte Nationalga­lerie, Berlin 27 September–26 January 2025

Like the Courtauld, the Alte Nationalga­lerie is reuniting a series of Monet’s paintings for the first time – but here the focus is on much earlier work. Three paintings of Paris from 1867 form the core of this show, which explores the modern city as a subject favoured by both Impression­ists and Post-Impression­ists.