Waterworks at Marly

Describing Sisley’s river views, one critic noted “the breeze, like a moving mirror, splinters into a thousand pieces the gold autumn leaves and scatters the opal reflections of light, fleecy clouds, their soft gray drenched with melancholy.” Here, solitary figures sparsely populate a view of a pumping station in the western suburbs of Paris. Although a landscape painter at heart, Sisley was equally intrigued by the presence of man-made structures in nature, such as bridges, shipyards, or the waterworks facility seen here. Constructed in 1850, the modern brick building at left houses the pump, while bright autumnal foliage fills the background.