The Palace of Westminster, London, by George Vicat Cole (1833-1893). 1892. Oil on canvas. H 127 x W 213 cm. Credit: City of London Corporation. Collection: Guildhall Art Gallery, via Art UK. Accession no. 1729; purchased from M. Newman, 1966. Image available to be shared and re-used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licence (CC BY-NC).
This, the last in Vicat Cole's Thames series, needs no introduction, but it is worth noting that it was also the last that he exhibited at the Royal Academy: "Its subject is, as was fitting, intensely English, the very centre of England's national life, and in it England's great river, which he had so long been celebrating, is the prominent feature.... what more appropriate view could the English landscape-painter have chosen?" (Chignell III: 123). That it is a sunset view, with the last gleams of sunlight colouring the choppy water, and the sails dipped along the bank, seems appropriate too.
Links to related material
- Shirley Nicholson's George Vicat Cole, RA (1833-1893): A Biographical Introduction
- THe Houses of Parliament (sitemap)
- Henry Pether’s The Custom House and Pool of London by Moonlight
- James Abbot McNeill Whistler’s The Pool
- A turn-of-the-century photograph
Bibliography
Chignell, Robert. The Life and Paintings of Vicat Cole RA. Vol. III. 3 vols. London: Cassell, 1896. Internet Archive, digitised from copies in the Getty Research Institute. Web. 30 September 2022.
The Palace of Westminster, London. Art UK. Web. 1 October 2022.
Created 1 October 2022