On the opposite bank stands the imposing Palace of Westminster, it's Gothic Revival forms cloaked in an impressive purple haze. Its turrets and pinnacles are dra matically silhouetted against a phantasmagoria of cool greens, pale purples, vibrant blues, and brilliant whites that make up the sky, each tone set down in rapid succes sion with a large brush that Derain wielded with appar ent relish. Distinct and separate, the brushstrokes in this area are so pronounced that each seems to be competing with the next, in the same way that the clouds appear to push and shove against each other, parting almost reluc tantly to allow the sun to illuminate the scene. While traditionally identified in the literature as a nighttime view, it is more likely set during the day. A furtive light transforms the lower half of the Thames here into a watery aurora borealis3ƒ4a far cry from its actual oily consistency, which became of increasing concern to resi dents of London and its outlying districts from the late nineteenth century onward.

Signed but not dated, this energized canvas is part of a group of perhaps thirty paintings of the British capital long regarded as constituting one of Derain?s greatest achievements. Novel in their color combinations and compositional tactics, the canvases attest to Derain?s successful assault on Neo-Impressionism, which had sustained him from the turn of the century, and his devel opment of a personal and distinctive style. With its rich, impastoed surface and formidable palette, the Lehman canvas is one of the finest of the group, although like most of the others, it poses a host of vexing problems for scholars, generally related to date and sequence, which now are largely resolved.?

Art historians have disagreed about the exact times and the frequency of Derain?s visits to London and, therefore, when he completed specific canvases. Some scholars have postulated that Derain made an initial trip in the spring of 1905, before joining Matisse in Collioure in July and August of that year, while others have claimed that he traveled in the fall of 1905, following the famous Salon d?Automne that inspired the critic Louis Vauxcelles to coin the term Fauves.? The recollections of Derain?s dealer, Ambroise Vollard, added considerable weight to this possibility; Vollard recalled, in his Souvenirs, that he –asked Vlaminck and Derain to go and paint for me in London,” after purchasing the contents of Derain?s studio in November 1905. Several scholars thus have asserted that Derain?s first visit occurred in late November or in the last weeks of 1905, but some believed there was only one trip, in early 1906. The case for more than one trip has rested partly on a sales receipt that Derain sent to Vollard in the summer of 1907 listing two groups of London pictures, one comprising twenty-six canvases, the other four."' Although neither group is itemized, it is likely that they were the product of more than one paint ing campaign. The stylistic range of the pictures also has supported the hypothesis of at least two trips, as a mini mum of four out of the possible thirty works are clearly more indebted to Neo-Impressionism than the others and therefore would appear to belong to the earliest group, which seems to be why Derain separated them in his bill to Vollard.

Signature:3„4Signed in lower right corner: aDerain

Provenance:

Acquired from the artist by Ambroise Vollard, Paris; either one of the twelve paintings by Derain bought on July 6, 1906, or one of the thirty bought by the summer of 1907; one of four paintings by Derain consigned to the Carroll Galleries, New York, before June 1917; upon the dissolution of the gallery, transferred to Walter Pach, New York; sent to John Quinn, on approval, late fall 1917; acquired from Vollard through Walter Pach by John Quinn, New York, 1919; estate of John Quinn, 1924-26; Delius Gallery [Delius Giese], New York; acquired by Robert Lehman, New York, November 1948.