The Science Life Environment

Air pollution made an impression on Monet and other 19th century painters

Changes in contrast, color and visibility track with rising pollution in London and Paris

Claude Monet’s 1899 painting “Charing Cross Bridge”.

Claude Monet’s 1899 painting “Charing Cross Bridge” has a visibility of less than five kilometers, researchers estimate. That’s similar to the visibility in modern-day megacities such as Delhi and Beijing on smoggy days.

Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo

By Bas den Hond

The 19th century landscape paintings hanging in London’s Tate Britain museum looked awfully familiar to climate physicist Anna Lea Albright.