The landscape painting Flood at Port Marly was one of the representative works of French painter Sisley with English blood, which was made in 1876 and measured 81*60 cm. It was made of canvas and now is preserved in France Orsay Museum of Art in Paris.
This landscape painting was a famous one among the painters many works concerning Port Marly. Sisley described the incident that Marly was flooded. Apparently the painter did not intend to report the flood. The sky was full of changing colorful clouds and the scene that the water and light added radiance and beauty to each other was as poetic as Venice. The painter Pissarro gave a high evaluation to this painting: “As far as I see in my life, among the works of other painters concerning the flood, few are like this painting which is rich and beautiful. It is an oil painting masterpiece.”
Flood at Port Marly depicted the natural scenery of port Marly. Although the painting was named by “flood”, what the painting described the dense clouds before the flood came. The dense clouds interpreted the light which shined on the water to form the warm reflection of the house and the intermediate cold color. Therefore the Impressionism painting was much richer. From the composition of this work, Sisley depicted the quiet houses near the port, smooth water and small fishing boast beside the houses. On the right side of the painting, a few trees were gracefully standing there, with a smooth visual effect. The color usage in this painting was mainly reflected in the warm yellow walls of the houses, the cold grey color tone and the depiction of the clouds, letting people feel the coming flood.
Flood at Port Marly 1876
