Claude Monet first visited London in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War.
Monet left France after the outbreak of the war and spent time in London, where he encountered the work of J. M. W. Turner and John Constable. Their atmospheric treatment of light and weather deeply interested him.
The London visit was an important stage in Monet’s artistic development, although he did not begin his famous London series until a later visit. During his London stays, he also met the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel, who became one of his most important supporters.
A common mix-up is to associate 1870 with Monet’s later paintings of Waterloo Bridge, Charing Cross Bridge, and the Houses of Parliament. Those series were made mainly during visits in 1899–1901.