Marking the end of celebrations on Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation day on 2 June 1953, a vivid flash of orange, red and blue bursts on to the night sky in this scene featuring London’s River Thames by Frederick Gore. The bright lights of the firework display are reflected in the water of the river in front of the distinctive building of the Festival Hall, between Waterloo and Hungerford Bridges. Further to the right Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament loom in the dark.
Through his focus on colour and light, Gore expressed his admiration for the landscapes of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists, notably Vincent Van Gogh. His emphasis on intense colour and an intuitive, emotional response to nature also shows the influence of French Fauvist artists such as André Derain (1880–1954) and Raoul Dufy (1877–1953).
