Artwork Information

Architecture rarely served as a subject in itself for Frances Hodgkins, but this rapid sketch may have resulted from her being forced indoors through poor weather. The cathedral in Arles where Hodgkins also painted has shorter Romanesque arches than

seen here. However, Meaux Cathedral, west of Paris, has similar clear horizontal bands on its stone pillars, and Gothic apertures above the side arches. Apart from Claude Monet, who specialised in capturing the shimmering effects of weather

on their façades, the Impressionists struggled with cathedrals because stone tends to absorb rather than reflect light.