A Monet Masterpiece That Hung in Churchill’s Home Is Now Free of Grime From Cigar Smoke

Claude Monet’s Charing Cross Bridge, once owned by Winston Churchill, captures the smoggy yellow haze over London’s River Thames with the shadowy Houses of Parliament in the backdrop. However, it turns out that some of that haze was not Monet’s handiwork—it came, in part, from the lingering smoke of Churchill’s cigars.

The painting was recently cleaned for a new exhibition—“Monet and London: Views of the Thames”—at the Courtauld Gallery in London. It had been covered in a layer of grime, which was likely caused by both cigar and fireplace smoke. Rebecca Hellen, a National Trust conservator, tells the Art Newspaper's Martin Bailey that she has restored the artwork to “how it would have been left by Monet.”

The French Impressionist began the piece around 1899 or 1900. During a series of lengthy visits to London, he stayed at the city’s Savoy Hotel, often painting the river from his window. He signed and dated the work in 1902, though he continued to make changes after that point.

Inspired by the haze enveloping the city, Monet made the yellow reflections more prominent, according to the Art Newspaper. He also changed the position of the Houses of Parliament, placing them in a more visible location closer to the middle of the piece.

“Without the fog, London wouldn’t be a beautiful city,” Monet once told art dealer René Gimpel, per the National Trust. “It’s the fog that gives it magnificent breadth. Those massive regular blocks become grandiose within that mysterious cloak.”

Decades later, Churchill received the painting as a gift from the American literary agent Emery Reves. The politician was a fervent admirer of Monet—and an avid painter himself.

“Churchill’s love of Monet dates right back to when he was first studying painting himself in the 1920s,” Katherine Carter, a curator at Chartwell, Churchill’s home in Kent, tells the Observer’s Vanessa Thorpe. “I think he went on to have the most fun recreating the style of Monet and the other Impressionists. He once described the process as ‘a joyride in a paintbox.’”

Reves purchased the painting specifically for the former prime minister in 1949. He also sent a letter explaining the gift, per the National Trust: “Knowing that Monet is your favorite painter, I have been searching for one of his good paintings for many months,” he wrote. “It is purest Impressionism, nothing but light and color without any design.”

Reves added that if the politician didn’t like the painting, he could “always give it to the Tate.”

Fortunately, Churchill was pleased with the work. He brought it to Chartwell and hung it in the drawing room, where he would sit with family and their guests—“usually with a cigar in hand,” according to the Art Newspaper. At one point, the prime minister allegedly smoked up to ten cigars a day. He also kept a collection of between 3,000 and 4,000 cigars at the house, so it’s no surprise the painting needed a touch-up.

For many years, Churchill’s ownership of the Monet was a well-kept secret. After his death in 1965, the National Trust acquired the family home and its contents—including the painting.

The restored version is now at the Courtauld exhibition, which will be on view through January 19. The show features around 20 of Monet’s London paintings. It’s also the first time that Charing Cross Bridge has left Chartwell since the British leader hung it in his home.

Julia Binswanger | READ MORE

Julia Binswanger is a freelance arts and culture reporter based in Chicago. Her work has been featured in WBEZ, Chicago magazine, Rebellious magazine and PC magazine.