On a return visit to London in later life,Monetbecame fascinated by the neo-Gothic architecture of the Houses of Parliament, and like Whistler, who was painting his Nocturnes at the same time , he drowned its silhouette in dense fog. He paints the river Thames as if it were the Grand Canal, Venice where water, sky and stone comingle. His method is well described by Gustave Geffroy who watchedMonetat work beside the Thames.

“He accumulated brushstrokes knowing exactly to which phenomena of light they corresponded. From time to tine he would stop, saying, “The sun has gone downÉ” It was a grand sight, solemn and gloomy, an abyss from which a murmur came. One had the feeling that the atmosphere, everything was about to evaporate, disappear in a colourless obscurity: SuddenlyMonetwould seize his palette and brushes. “The sun is out again”, he said. At this moment he was the sole person aware of this.”