The Factory in the Flood – Alfred Sisley

The flooding of the river Seine in 1872, like the even more famous one in 1876, became a subject to be painted for Sisley.

The lock keepers’ house on the Island of La Loge is the main subject of the painting. The latter is reflected in the calm water, an impressive, solid, motionless building. Only the funnel of a steamboat, which appears to be stationary at the lock, adds life to the landscape without disturbing the autumn calmness.

Sisley, like his friend Pissarro, portrayed river activity but invented an atmosphere that his paintbrushes imbued with poetry.