Village on the Seine, Alfred Sisley, 1872

 "Village on the Seine" Alfred Sisley 1872

Sisley's "Village on the Seine" is a continuation of the view in his painting "The Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne".  This can be seen when the two paintings are merged and the overlap is removed.

 Quai d'argenteuil, Villeneuve-la-Garenne 1872

 The Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne Alfred Sisley 1872

This c1909 postcard shows all the buildings in the merged image of Sisley's two paintings.

 Quai d'argenteuil (now called Quai Alfred Sisley) c1909

The road in the middle of the above postcard which branches off Quai Alfred Sisley is named after Henri Barbusse,  a communist who in the 1930s wrote a ludicrous biography full of praise for the wonderful new world his hero Stalin  created in the USSR. Malcolm Muggeridge met Barbusse in Moscow in the early 1930s. By that time the scales had fallen from Muggeridge's eyes and he saw the regime for being "one of the most thorough-going, ruthless, and bloody tyrannies ever to exist on Earth".  Those like Barbusse who continued to support Stalin had in Muggeridge's words "resolved ... to abolish themselves and their world". That fairly well describes certain types today.

Naming a road after such an idiot gives one an idea about the mentality of the authorities in Villeneuve-la-Garenne. Yet despite the council's commitment to destroying their town a few of the houses in Sisley's painting are still with us in 2016.

This is the house on the far right of the  "Village on the Seine". It is also on the far right of the postcard above.

Quai Alfred Sisley 2014

This is the house shown hidden behind the trees in the postcard and the painting. In the painting the grey band can be seen around the top windows. The narrow house on the left of the photo below might also be a survivor from Sisley's painting.

Quai Alfred Sisley 2008

Some of the houses in Sisley's paintings can be see in this postcard. The tabac on the left is the cream building at the centre of his "Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne".

This was the same view in 2014. At least the trees look very nice.

This early 20th century postcard also shows some of Sisley's houses.

This was the same view in 2013.

Quai Alfred Sisley, Villeneuve-la-Garenne 2013