Posted on 08/11/2006 9:19:39 AM PDT by presidio9
The French painter Claude Monet is being used as an environmental monitor, for scientists believe his legendary paintings of the Houses of Parliament can serve as a useful indicator of smog levels in late 19th-century London.
Monet's so-called London series was painted during visits between 1899 and 1905, capturing scenes that are often astonishing for their grey and purplish haze.
Many experts have assumed, though, that this extraordinary effect was an Impressionistic embellishment.
Environmental researchers at the University of Birmingham in central England analyzed nine out of 19 Monet paintings of the Houses of Parliament, painted between 1899 and 1901.
Using the position of the Sun, they calculated the date when the paintings were made, as well as the precise location where Monet set up his easel -- the far end of St. Thomas' Hospital, on the South Bank of the Thames, opposite the British legislature.
The dates and the angle of the Sun concur with Monet's accounts in letters back home to his wife, in which he described his progress on the London series, the weather and other matters, as well as with the daily meteorological records during this period.
The scientists believe there is strong evidence Monet faithfully rendered the London sun as he saw it at the time. In other words, the painter is unlikely to have added artistic touches when back in his studio in France in order to enhance the city's eerie "pea soup" atmosphere.
The next step is to see whether the extraordinary colours captured in Monet's haze give a clue to the chemistry and particles of the pollution.
The study appears in the latest issued Proceedings of the Royal Society A, a journal published by the Royal Society, Britain's de-facto academy of sciences.
In previous research, geometrists have determined the exact date when the US photographer Ansel Adams captured his landscape entitled "Autumn Moon, the High Sierra from Glacier Point" and when Van Gogh made some of his most important night paintings, including "Starry Night."
Smog became a major problem in London by the end of the 19th century, triggered by the burning of coal and particulates from factory chimneys. The phenomenon, celebrated in innumerable books and films, became a worsening health problem until it was curbed by clean-air legislation in the 1950s.
A woman looks at Claude Monet's "Houses of Parliament" at the Tate Britain in London in 2005. The French painter Claude Monet is being used as an environmental monitor, for scientists believe his legendary paintings of the Houses of Parliament can serve as a useful indicator of smog levels in late 19th-century London.(AFP/File/Jim Watson)
Smog??? That's the smell of progress!
That's like studying Chagall paintings to determine drug abuse levels in the 19th century.........
At some point I believe he was going blind, and obviously his paintings are not photographic in nature.
A review of Michealangelo's paintings has led me to conclude that people mostly walked around butt naked way back when.
I don't know much about art, but I know crap when I see it.
We're lucky to have his paintings to give us hard data on late 19th-century smog levels and smog colors in London. After all, we don't have any photographs from that era, because photography wasn't invented until the mid-19th century, and, um, uh, well, um... OK, let's try this again - because color photography wasn't invented until the mid-19th century, and, um, uh, well, um... Darn...
I saw this a couple weeks back in D.C. @ The National Gallery of Art.
That's fascinating. I had an Egg McMuffin for breakfast.
Yeah but you can't afford this crap.
Good one! LOL
Modern "art" is a scam to bilk the stupid rich.
Why are you telling me this?
A review of Picasso's paintings has led me to conclude that people mostly didn't know how to draw stuff way back when........
A masterpiece of modern fast food.
Industrial Revolution smokestack emissions were responsible for the golden sunsets and hazy look. Global warming was already under way.............
A rule of thumb: If a child can do it, it's not art.
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