Big Ben

Childe Hassam

National Gallery of Art

This painting depicts a street or bridge viewed from an elevated perspective. In the distance are the blurred outlines of pale gray buildings, including a prominent clock tower, fading into a misty gray sky. Above the walls of the bridge, lamps create glowing orange and yellow dots that reflect off of the pavement below. The dark silhouettes of people and vehicles travel across reflective surface of the bridge. The brushstrokes are loose and fluid, giving the scene a hazy appearance.