The Seine in Paris

About this work

In his last years Pissarro suffered from a chronic eye infection, and his doctors forbade him to paint outdoors, in wind and dust. He rented apartments with windows over the river — in Paris, Rouen, Le Havre — and painted the city from above, behind the glass: bridges, quays, boats and small figures.

The river takes up most of the panel, and the houses, trees and boats around it are small — the view of someone standing at a high window.