Flood at Moret sur Loing 1888

Alfred Sisley captured ‘Flood at Moret sur Loing’ with oil on canvas, presenting us with a muted palette that evokes a profound sense of stillness. The artist uses a composition with a row of bare trees to create a visual rhythm, their verticality contrasting with the horizontal sweep of the flooded landscape. Sisley’s brushwork is loose yet controlled, building texture that suggests the reflective quality of the water and the dampness in the air. The way the light interacts with the sky, filtered through the clouds, creates subtle gradations of tone. The town in the background is reduced to simple shapes with a focus on the buildings along the river which are reflected in the water. Sisley’s approach to capturing the ephemeral qualities of light and atmosphere is not just an aesthetic choice, it is an exploration of how perception shapes our understanding of the world around us.