Westminster Bridge, the Surrey Side 1745 - 1755

This watercolor was made by Samuel Scott, around the middle of the 18th century, showing Westminster Bridge from the Surrey side of the River Thames. Here, Scott uses watercolor's translucence to great effect, capturing the light and atmosphere of the scene, the dampness of the air. Yet, the real subject of this work is not the weather but the built environment and the ways that people use it. The bridge itself, built between 1739 and 1750, was a marvel of engineering at the time. Scott has focused on the activity surrounding the bridge: boats being loaded and unloaded, and people going about their daily lives. This attention to the everyday is what gives the work its enduring appeal, reminding us that all grand structures are only as significant as the human activity that animates them. It serves to remind us that all art is, in the end, a material record of human experience, reflecting the labor and the lives of people who make and use the things around us.