Waterloo Bridge at Sunset, Pink Effect 1903

With delicate strokes of blues, pinks, and yellows, Monet captured Waterloo Bridge at sunset, with a 'pink effect'. Look at how the bridge barely emerges from the misty atmosphere. I can imagine Monet standing there, shivering in the cold, squinting his eyes as he tries to capture the fleeting light. What was he thinking as he brushed those colors onto the canvas? Notice how the paint is applied in small dashes and strokes, almost like fleeting thoughts or glimpses of light. It’s like he’s trying to pin down something that’s constantly changing. Then there are these little jabs of yellow, that could be the street lamps flickering on as the day fades. Monet was obsessed with light and how it transforms the world around us, just like Turner before him, and so many artists after him. He reminds us that painting is not just about recording what we see, but about capturing a feeling, a mood, a moment in time.