La manufacture de Sèvres
Alfred Sisley·1879
Historical Context
La manufacture de Sèvres, the famous porcelain factory established by Louis XV and transferred to Sèvres in 1756, gave Sisley a subject that combined landscape and industry in a characteristically Impressionist manner. Painted in 1879 from the Seine's south bank where the factory overlooked the river, the canvas shows the industrial buildings integrated into the broader landscape — chimneys among trees, the river flowing past. Sisley, unlike Monet, rarely foregrounded industrial subjects, but the Sèvres factory, embedded in a landscape he loved, offered an acceptable compromise between the modern and the picturesque.
Technical Analysis
Sisley integrates the factory buildings into the landscape through atmospheric handling that softens their industrial geometry. The river in the foreground is painted with horizontal strokes that suggest reflection and movement, while the buildings behind are treated with a similar touch that prevents them from reading as hard architectural forms.
