Towards the end of the 18th century, the great and the small island of Chatou were connected by a dike to reinforce the current and thus improve the efficiency of the
Machine de Marly. The small island is also joined to the commune of
Croissy-sur-Seine by a long dike. The left arm of the Seine is called Marly arm and right arm, widened and expanded in the 19th century, is called the Rivière Neuve Arm. The late 19th and early 20th century was a unique period. In the 1860s, the
Maison Fournaise prospered there. Artists like
Claude Monet and
Guy de Maupassant often described the pleasures of the boating and the Maison Fournaise in its short stories. Réalier-Dumas decorated the north facade of the House (his restored fresco is still visible today).
Gustave Caillebotte who possessed several boats introduced his friends to the boats and to the sail. A dam was built in 1933 (demolished in 2013) and a hydraulic test laboratory was established there. Located in the extension of the historic Parisian axis, the island served as an extension to the latter, unless, as shown in a study, its northern part remains for a long time only in a wasteland. After the war, many installations were carried out by
EDF on this site which became the Chatou Research and Test Center. The
Parc des Impressionnistes was inaugurated in 1980. Between 1982 and 2003, the
Maison Fournaise and the
Maison Levanneur were restored and the ''Centre National de l'Estampe et de l'Art Imprimé'' (CNEAI) was opened. File:P1030758 parc des impressionistes.JPG|Parc des Impressionistes. File:Barge at Chatou lock 001.jpg|Barge next to Île de Chatou. File:P1030787 vue de la seine depuis le parc des impressionistes.JPG|View of the
Seine from the Parc des Impressionistes. == Events ==