The Houses of Parliament, Sunset

In the fading light of dusk, the hazy silhouette of the Palace of Westminster rises across the River Thames.

A lone rowboat floats upon the water.

An air of profound stillness drifts all around.

Claude Monet, the master of Impressionism.

He is celebrated as a painter who took his canvases outdoors to capture the fleeting shifts of natural light, seizing the atmosphere of the moment with rapid, spontaneous brushstrokes.

This painting, too, might appear to be a vivid snapshot of a single London sunset, conjured from river mist and smog along the banks of the Thames.

Yet in truth, this work was not completed beneath London skies.

On the contrary, Monet brought what was supposedly a finished piece back to his studio in France, obsessively reworking it over the course of three long years.

During the winters between 1899 and 1901,

Monet visited London. One of his primary bases was the second-floor terrace of St Thomas' Hospital on the south bank of the Thames.

At the time, London was at the height of the Industrial Revolution. Dense industrial smog from massive coal fires mingled with the river fog, creating a dramatic atmospheric veil. Where ordinary citizens saw foul, polluted air, Monet saw a mysterious, sublime drama of nature.

He would line up as many as nineteen canvases along the terrace at once.

Then, shifting rapidly from one canvas to another as the sunlight and fog constantly changed, he worked at a frenzied pace to record the fleeting atmospheric states.

Before the paint on the water's surface had even dried, he signed his name, "Claude Monet," in the lower right corner.

It was meant to be a declaration that he had truly captured the scene.