Tower Bridge, London

Oskar Kokoschka

1925

Oil on canvas

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Oskar Kokoschka's first visit to London in July 1925 was brief: he stayed for about ten days, and could finish only one painting, <I> Tower Bridge </I>, because fog obscured the view. Despite the weather he found the historic city stimulating. He wrote later: London was still a mother city as the ancient Greek cities had been, from which a surplus population had spread out over the world. Merchandise from many nations was shipped up the Thames. Kokoschka's vigorous brushstrokes convey the vitality of the port and the sense of pulsating activity along the wharves. The manner of Kokoschka's application of paint, and his liberal politi