Houses of Parliament, Sunlight Effect

A hazy outline of the Houses of Parliament rises against a misty sky, its form echoed in the water beneath, with the whole scene washed in blues, grays, and touches of golden yellow. This oil painting was created in 1903 and is held at the Brooklyn Museum. The artist, Claude Monet (1840–1926), was a French painter associated with Impressionism, and also made the notable work Impression, Sunrise. A detail worth noticing is how the golden tones break through the cooler haze, giving the impression of sunlight piercing through fog over the river, so that the building seems to dissolve into atmosphere rather than stand as a solid structure, blurring the line between architecture and reflection in the water below it.