The Seine and Louvre

Towards the end of 1900 Pissarro rented an apartment at 28 place Dauphine, the triangle of old houses at the western tip of the Île de la Cité, and he came back to it for three long stays. The Musée d'Orsay counts about 30 canvases painted from one of its windows. This one is signed and dated 1903 at the lower left, and it shows a winter day under a soft haze. In front lies the point of the square du Vert-Galant, with a tree, a lamppost and a few people by the railing. Beyond, boats move on the Seine, the cast-iron arches of the Pont des Arts cross it, and the long front of the Louvre fills the far bank. He died in Paris that November, at 73.