1 / 1

download image
This image is in the public domain. You can copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes. Learn more about our image policies.

Clouds hunker over a water-logged street that separates us from the end of a row of buildings in this horizontal painting. The scene is loosely painted, especially in the sky and water. The lowest level of the building across from us is apricot orange. The second story is pale peach, and dormered windows cut into the gray and then brown rooflines above. The words “AS’ NICOLAS” are painted in gray near the top of the second level, and more letters on the level below are illegible. The roofline drops down a level where it meets the structure next to it, along the left edge of the canvas. Two women in long skirts stand at a darkened, open doorway near the front corner of the structure. A sign on the side of the building hangs from a horizontal arm over three men in and near a shallow boat, which is being propelled by a man who stands in the stern with a long stick. The street is so wet that it first appears to be a canal or river. It is only when we notice dashes of mauve, pale pink, and gray to our left that we realize the cobblestone road is flooded. A band of buildings with tan walls and black or red roofs spans the right two-thirds of the horizon, which comes about a quarter of the way up this composition. A grove of cinnamon-brown trees and some open structures could be a submerged park in the near distance. Two poles and some spindly trees to our right are reflected in the water. Dark forms around these areas could be more people. Pale blue and very pale pink whip together in the sky, suggesting churning clouds veiling the blue sky. The artist signed and dated the work in the lower left corner, “Sisley 72.”

Flood at Port-Marly, 1872

Alfred Sisley

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 82

In December 1872, Sisley traveled to Port-Marly, a village in the western suburbs of Paris. There he produced four paintings showing the flooding of the Seine River. At first glance, this scene looks peaceful. The waters are calm, reflecting the overcast sky. A pair of women seem to be chatting in front of the entrance to a wine merchant’s shop.

On closer inspection, we see small boats crossing flooded streets and trees emerging directly from the water. It is a surprisingly mundane portrayal of a climate disaster.

Dive deeper

Flooding early in the spring of 1872 drew Sisley to Port–Marly, a village on the Seine near Louveciennes, the artist's home. The water here is calm and human activity is minimal. Rather than dramatic or picturesque incident, the artist's attention was engaged by purely visual effects of rain–laden clouds and water–covered streets. The tranquility of the painting and the directness and simplicity of Sisley's observation are qualities derived from Corot, whom Sisley had met in the 1860s.

The composition is traditional. The Restaurant à Saint Nicolas at the left and the erect pylon on the right and its reflection establish a stable foreground and frame an opening at the center toward a stand of trees and distant hillside. The artist's handling, however, distinguishes Flood at Port-Marly as an impressionist work. Painted quickly on the scene, probably in a single session, Sisley used muted tones of a wide spectrum of hues, applying them in a thin layer of supple brushstrokes which Sisley varied in response to individual components of the landscape. The distinctive nuanced tonality and animated surface of this painting are hallmarks of the best of Sisley's mature work.

Sisley painted the floods at Port–Marly again in 1876, echoing this 1872 composition in two virtually identical works. Such repetition was unusual for Sisley and suggests that he found the motif congenial and this painting successful.

Object Data

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 46.4 x 61 cm (18 1/4 x 24 in.)

framed: 64.7 x 80 x 9.5 cm (25 1/2 x 31 1/2 x 3 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

Accession Number

1985.64.38

Artists / Makers

Alfred Sisley (artist) French, 1839 - 1899

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Detail Information

Inscription

lower left: Sisley.72

Provenance

Marie-Albert, vicomte de Curel [1827-1908], Paris;[1] by descent in his family to Mlle de Curel, Paris;[2] (de Curel sale, Palais Galliéra, Paris, 21 June 1961, no. D); purchased by (Hector Brame, Paris) for Mr. Paul Mellon, Upperville, Virginia; gift 1985 to NGA.

[1] The vicomte de Curel has been identified by François Auffret, Président of La Société des Amis de Jongkind in Paris (founded 1970), with confirmation from the collector's descendants. With M. Auffret's kind permission, his research was shared with the NGA by Dr. Diana Kostyrko (see her e-mails from October through December 2008 in NGA curatorial files). The NGA painting was not included in the 25 November 1918 Curel estate sale held at the Galerie Georges Petit (originally scheduled for 3 May 1918).

[2] The painting was lent by Mlle de Curel to the 1932 Royal Academy exhibition in London.

Associated Names

Brame, Hector
Curel, Marie-Albert, vicomte de
Curel, Mlle de
Mellon, Paul
Palais Galliera

Exhibition History

1932: Exhibition of French Art 1200-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1932, no. 525

1963: Die Isle de France und ihre Maler. Nationalgalerie,, Berlin, 1963

1966: French Paintings from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and Mrs. Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, no. 73, repro

1986: Gifts to the Nation: Selected Acquisitions from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1986, unnumbered checklist

2010: Da Corot a Monet. La sinfonia della natura., Complesso Monumentale del Vittoriano, Rome, 2010, no. 91, repro.

2013: Eblouissants reflets: cent chefs-d'oeuvre impressionistes, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, 2013, no. 113, repro.

2013: Intimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art, Museo dell'Ara Pacis Augustae, Rome (exhibition title in this venue: Impressionist Gems); California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, Seattle Art Museum, 2013-2016.

2017: Alfred Sisley (1839-1899): Impressionist Master, Bruce Museum of Arts and Science, Greenwich, Connecticut; Hôtel de Caumont, Centre d'Art, Aix-en-Provence, 2017, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1966: Goldwater, Robert. "The Glory that was France." Art News 65 (March 1966): 86.

1992: National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 191, repro.

2004: Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 381, no. 314, color repro.