At the outbreak of war in 1914 many Belgian artists sought refuge in England. Along with the younger painters of the Laethem St Martin School, the older luministe artist Emile Claus came to England. Unlike his younger countrymen who moved to Wales and the West Country, Claus preferred to stay in London because he considered it more cosmopolitan. His chief subject-matter during the war years was the River Thames and the boats and ships docking in the Port of London. The present work looking over Waterloo Bridge from the Temple Embankment is reminiscent of the many views that Claude Monet painted of London from the Savoy hotel at the turn of the century and that Derain had painted during his short visit in 1906.

To be included in the list of works by Claus currently being prepared by Jan d'Haese