Houses of Parliament at Night by Derain in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, January 2008

Houses of Parliament at Night, 1905-06
André Derain (Chatou 1880 - Paris 1954)
French
Oil on canvas; 31 x 39 in. (78.7 x 99.1 cm); framed: 40 3/8 x 47.5 x 3 in. (102.5 x 121 x 7.6 cm)
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975 (1975.1.168)

In 1905 and 1906 Derain traveled to London at the suggestion of the art dealer Ambroise Vollard, for whom he executed a number of views of the city, including this one. As the artist later recalled, these canvases were inspired by Claude Monet's views of London painted only a few years earlier, which had "made a very strong impression on Paris." The long broken brushstrokes of Derain's painting and the bright bold colors reflect the influence of the Neo-Impressionists Paul Signac and Henri-Edmond Cross (both well represented by works in the Robert Lehman Collection) as well as that of Matisse, with whom Derain spent the summer of 1905 in the south of France.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/the_ro...