Thirty-Six Views of Mt.Fuji; Evening Shower at Mountain Foot (1831) by KATSUSHIKA HokusaiShimane Art Museum
From gathering tempests to serene atmospheres, the sky in a landscape painting sets the mood and creates drama, whether as a background detail or the main action. Scroll on to see if you can recognise these famous painted skies.
The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, October 16, 1834 (1834-1835) by Joseph Mallord William Turner, English, 1775 - 1851Philadelphia Museum of Art
Painting 1
We start our cloud-gazing quiz with a rather fiery option. In fact, the oranges, reds and yellows in this background are so strong, they almost totally obscure the clouds themselves.
Just to the right of the inferno, you’ll see dark clouds and even darker plumes of smoke - or could it be smog? At the top of the image, you can see flecks of red, yellow and orange - presumably sparks from the fire that’s raging in the other corner of the painting.
The clouds in the background are steely grey and rather ominous. They could be storm clouds about to burst or they could indicate a darkening night sky.
In the center of the image, we get our biggest clue yet as to its identity. Two Gothic towers stand side by side, their corner spires only just visible through the flames and smoke.
Slightly lower in the image, we see another part of the building, now almost totally consumed by flames. So, have you guessed which masterpiece we’re looking at?
The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, JMW Turner
Painted in late 1834 or early 1835, the image depicts the fire that broke out at the Palace of Westminster on the evening of October 16th 1834. The blaze destroyed much of the building, though the 11th century Westminster Hall survived more or less unscathed.
Turner was one of the many people who gathered on the south bank of the river Thames to watch the inferno. He made a number of sketches of the incident and painted two famous works of the event. This version of the fire is currently held by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The Thames below Westminster (about 1871) by Claude MonetThe National Gallery, London
Painting 2
This image is an altogether calmer and more tranquil scene. Though it also shows heavy grey skies and threatening clouds, there are no flames in sight and almost no warm tones are visible anywhere in the painting.
However, you can still see billows of smoke going up into the air, this time from chimneys dotted throughout the image.
While these two images might have a very different feel, they do have some things in common. Most notably, they both show gothic towers obscured by smog and grey London skies.
In fact, these paintings depict the same subjects; the Palace of Westminster and the river Thames. However, this image wasn’t created until 1871, almost 40 years after the fire that destroyed the original building and sparked Turner’s imagination. So, who is this masterpiece by?
The Thames Below Westminster, Claude Monet
Monet moved to London in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War. While living in the city, he painted many of London’s parks as well as this view of the Thames. Monet returned to London later in his life and painted numerous images of the river, 37 of which were exhibited at Durand-Ruel’s gallery in Paris in 1904.
Houses of Parliament, Sunlight Effect (Le Parlement, effet de soleil) (1903) by Claude MonetBrooklyn Museum
Learn more about Monet and his time in London here
