Flood at Port-Marly

Floodwater covers the road and fields around the village of Port-Marly on the Seine, its surface reflecting a pale, broken sky with the rooftops of the town emerging above the water line. Painted in the winter of 1872, this small canvas belongs to the group of flood scenes Alfred Sisley made at the village where his family lived, subjects that revealed his great sensitivity to atmosphere and to the subtle tonalities of water and light. The serenity and restraint of the handling mark it as one of the earliest demonstrations of the style that made Sisley the most purely lyrical of the Impressionist landscape painters. The painting is held in the National Gallery of Art, Washington.