John Hartman

John Hartman: The Thames from Swiss Re, 2005

The Thames from Swiss Re, 2005, oil on linen, 60 x 66 inches

The Thames from Swiss Re

The glass topped dome of the Swiss Re building gives spectacular views over ‘the city’ and out to London’s other boroughs. The views up and down the Thames are particularly intriguing. Roads crisscross, and buildings occupy odd shaped sites. The city’s past lays coded in its buildings, roads and bridges as it continues to reinvent itself.

This is the view westward past St Paul’s Cathedral, Waterloo Bridge, the Houses of Parliament and finally to the suburb of Sheppard’s Bush, recorded in the sky, as our “Dockhead mini-cab” gets completely lost, and we are guided by cell phone by an old friend to a Greek pub.