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Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an
Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...
landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...
painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedication to painting landscape ''
en plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or ''plein air'' painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting ...
'' (i.e., outdoors). He deviated into
figure painting A figure painting is a work of fine art in any of the Painting#Painting media, painting media with the primary subject being the human figure, whether clothed or Nude (art), nude. Figure painting may also refer to the activity of creating such ...
only rarely and, unlike
Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Re ...
and
Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( , ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). H ...
, he found that Impressionism fulfilled his artistic needs. Among his important works are a series of paintings of the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
, mostly around
Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chi ...
, executed in 1874, and landscapes depicting places in or near
Moret-sur-Loing Moret-sur-Loing (, literally ''Moret on Loing'') is a former commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is situated on the river Loing, close to its confluence with the Seine. Moret–Veneu ...
. The notable paintings of the
Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/ Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributa ...
and its bridges in the former suburbs of Paris are like many of his landscapes, characterised by tranquillity, in pale shades of green, pink, purple, dusty blue and cream. Over the years Sisley's power of expression and colour intensity increased.
Richard Shone Richard Shone (born 1949) is a British art historian and art critic specializing in British modern art, and from 2003–15 was the editor of ''The Burlington Magazine''. Career At age 16, Shone was already well enough connected in the Briti ...
: ''Sisley.'' London: Phaidon Press 1999.


Biography

Sisley was born in Paris to affluent British parents. His father, William Sisley, was in the silk business, and his mother, Felicia Sell, was a cultivated music connoisseur. In 1857, at the age of 18, Alfred Sisley was sent to London to study for a career in business, but he abandoned it after four years and returned to Paris in 1861. From 1862, he studied at the Paris
École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...
within the ''atelier'' of Swiss artist
Marc-Charles-Gabriel Gleyre Marc Gabriel Charles Gleyre (2 May 1806 – 5 May 1874), was a Swiss artist who was a resident in France from an early age. He took over the studio of Paul Delaroche in 1843 and taught a number of younger artists who became prominent, including He ...
, where he became acquainted with
Frédéric Bazille Jean Frédéric Bazille (December 6, 1841 – November 28, 1870) was a French Impressionist painter. Many of Bazille's major works are examples of figure painting in which he placed the subject figure within a landscape painted '' en plein air'' ...
,
Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...
, and
Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionism, Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially femininity, feminine sensuality ...
. Together they would paint landscapes ''
en plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or ''plein air'' painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting ...
'' rather than in the studio, in order to capture the transient effects of sunlight realistically. This approach, innovative at the time, resulted in paintings more colourful and more broadly painted than the public was accustomed to seeing. Consequently, Sisley and his friends initially had few opportunities to exhibit or sell their work. Their works were usually rejected by the jury of the most important
art exhibition An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhi ...
in France, the annual
Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ( ...
. During the 1860s, though, Sisley was in a better financial position than some of his fellow artists, as he received an allowance from his father. In 1866, Sisley began a relationship with Eugénie Lescouezec (1834–1898; usually known as Marie Lescouezec), a Breton living in Paris. The couple had two children: son Pierre (born 1867) and daughter Jeanne (1869). At the time, Sisley lived not far from Avenue de Clichy and the
Café Guerbois Café Guerbois, on Avenue de Clichy in Paris, was the site of late 19th-century discussions and planning amongst artists, writers and art lovers – the '' bohèmes'' (bohemians), in contrast to the ''bourgeois''. Centered on Édouard Ma ...
, the gathering-place of many Parisian painters. In 1868, his paintings were accepted at the Salon, but the exhibition did not bring him financial or critical success; nor did subsequent exhibitions. In 1870, the Franco-Prussian War began; as a result, Sisley's father's business failed, and the painter's sole means of support became the sale of his works. For the remainder of his life he would live in poverty, as his paintings did not rise significantly in monetary value until after his death. Occasionally, however, Sisley would be backed by patrons, and this allowed him, among other things, to make a few brief trips to Britain. The first of these occurred in 1874, after the first independent Impressionist exhibition. The result of a few months spent south-west of London was a series of nearly twenty paintings of the non-tidal
Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
at East
Molesey Molesey is a district of two twin towns, East Molesey and West Molesey, in the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, England, and is situated on the south bank of the River Thames. East and West Molesey share a high street, and there is a second retai ...
and below its Hampton Court Bridge where the south bank becomes
Thames Ditton Thames Ditton is a suburban village on the River Thames, in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Apart from a large inhabited island in the river, it lies on the southern bank, centred 12.2 miles (19.6 km) southwest of Charing Cross ...
which was later described by art historian
Kenneth Clark Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark (13 July 1903 – 21 May 1983) was a British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster. After running two important art galleries in the 1930s and 1940s, he came to wider public notice on television ...
as "a perfect moment of Impressionism." Until 1880, Sisley lived and worked in the country west of Paris; then he and his family moved to a small village near
Moret-sur-Loing Moret-sur-Loing (, literally ''Moret on Loing'') is a former commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is situated on the river Loing, close to its confluence with the Seine. Moret–Veneu ...
, close to the
forest of Fontainebleau The forest of Fontainebleau (french: Forêt de Fontainebleau, or ''Forêt de Bière'', meaning "forest of heather") is a mixed deciduous forest lying southeast of Paris, France. It is located primarily in the arrondissement of Fontaineblea ...
, where the painters of the
Barbizon school The Barbizon school of painters were part of an art movement towards Realism in art, which arose in the context of the dominant Romantic Movement of the time. The Barbizon school was active roughly from 1830 through 1870. It takes its name ...
had worked earlier in the century. Here, as art historian Anne Poulet has said, "the gentle landscapes with their constantly changing atmosphere were perfectly attuned to his talents. Unlike Monet, he never sought the drama of the rampaging ocean or the brilliantly colored scenery of the
Côte d'Azur The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation "Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...
." In 1881, Sisley made a second brief voyage to
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...
. In 1897, Sisley and his partner visited Britain again, and were finally married in
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
at
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...
Register Office on 5 August. They stayed at
Penarth Penarth (, ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg), Wales, exactly south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay. Penarth is a weal ...
, where Sisley painted at least six oils of the sea and the cliffs. In mid-August they moved to the Osborne Hotel at Langland Bay on the
Gower Peninsula Gower ( cy, Gŵyr) or the Gower Peninsula () in southwest Wales, projects towards the Bristol Channel. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom ...
, where he produced at least eleven oil paintings in and around Langland Bay and Rotherslade (then called Lady's Cove). They returned to France in October. This was Sisley's last voyage to his ancestral homeland. The
National Museum Cardiff National Museum Cardiff ( cy, Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd) is a museum and art gallery in Cardiff, Wales. The museum is part of the wider network of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales. Entry is kept free by a grant from the Welsh Gov ...
possesses two of his oil paintings of Penarth and Langland. The following year Sisley applied for French citizenship, but was refused. A second application was made and supported by a police report, but illness intervened, and Sisley remained a British national until his death. He died on 29 January 1899 of throat cancer in
Moret-sur-Loing Moret-sur-Loing (, literally ''Moret on Loing'') is a former commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is situated on the river Loing, close to its confluence with the Seine. Moret–Veneu ...
at the age of 59, a few months after the death of his wife. His body was buried with that of his wife at Moret-sur-Loing Cemetery.


Work

Sisley's student works are lost. His first landscape paintings are sombre, coloured with dark browns, greens, and pale blues. They were often executed at Marly and
Saint-Cloud Saint-Cloud () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthiest tow ...
. Little is known about Sisley's relationship with the paintings of
J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbul ...
and
John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedham Vale, th ...
, which he may have seen in London, but some have suggested that these artists may have influenced his development as an Impressionist painter, as may have
Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and ...
and
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot ( , , ; July 16, 1796 – February 22, 1875), or simply Camille Corot, is a French landscape and portrait painter as well as a printmaker in etching. He is a pivotal figure in landscape painting and his vast ...
. He was inspired by the style and subject matter of previous modern painters Camille Pissarro and Edouard Manet. Among the Impressionists, Sisley has been overshadowed by Monet, whose work his resembles in style and subject matter, although Sisley's effects are more subdued. Described by art historian
Robert Rosenblum Robert Rosenblum (July 24, 1927 – December 6, 2006) was an American art historian and curator known for his influential and often irreverent scholarship on European and American art of the mid-eighteenth to 20th centuries. Biography Rosenblum wa ...
as having "almost a generic character, an impersonal textbook idea of a perfect Impressionist painting", his work strongly invokes atmosphere, and his skies are always impressive. He concentrated on landscape more consistently than any other Impressionist painter. Among Sisley's best-known works are ''Street in Moret'' and ''Sand Heaps'', both owned by the
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
, and ''The Bridge at Moret-sur-Loing'', shown at
Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French a ...
, Paris. ''Allée des peupliers de Moret'' (''The Lane of Poplars at Moret'') has been stolen three times from the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nice – once in 1978 when on loan in Marseilles (recovered a few days later in the city's sewers), again in 1998 (when the museum's curator was convicted of the theft and jailed for five years with two accomplices), and finally in August 2007 (on 4 June 2008 French police recovered it and three other stolen paintings from a van in Marseilles). A large number of fake Sisleys have been discovered. Sisley produced some 900 oil paintings, some 100 pastels and many other drawings. During the Nazi period (1933–1945) a number of Sisley works were taken from Jewish art collectors by Nazis or their agents as part of the massive looting of Jews that preceded the Holocaust. On 18 June 2004 Sisley's ''Soleil de printemps, le Loing'' (1892) was restored to the family of Louis Hirsch, in a ceremony in Paris. In 2008 a dispute erupted between Alain Dreyfus, an art dealer in Switzerland, and the auction house Christie's over a Sisley painting ''First Day of Spring in Moret'', that was claimed by the Lindon family in court in Paris. Dreyfus said that Christie's had not sufficiently examined the work's history, or provenance, before putting it up for sale. Also in 2008, the Sisley ''Bateux en Réparation à Saint Mammès'' (1885) was recognised as having been looted by the Nazis and the subject of a settlement with the heirs of Benno and Frances Bernstein who had owned it before Nazi occupation. Numerous Sisleys such as ''Winter Landscape'' were known to have been seized by the Nazi looting organisation known as the E.R.R. and still have not been found. The German Lost Art Foundation has 24 listings for Sisley.


Selected works

* '' Avenue of Chestnut Trees near La Celle-Saint-Cloud'' (1865) * '' View of Montmartre from Cité des Fleurs to Les Batignolles'' (1869) * '' The Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne'' (1872) * '' Ferry to the Ile-de-la-Loge – Flood'' (1872) * '' La Grande-Rue, Argenteuil'' (c. 1872) * '' Square in Argenteuil (Rue de la Chaussee)'' (1872) * ' (1872) * '' Chemin de la Machine, Louveciennes'' (1873) * ' (1873) * '' Hampton Court Bridge (painting)'' (1874) * '' Molesey Weir – Morning'' (1874) * '' Regatta at Molesey'' (1874) * '' Under Hampton Court Bridge'' (1874) * '' The Terrace at Saint-Germain, Spring'' (1875) * '' The Small Meadows in Spring, By'' (c. 1881)


Gallery

File:Sisley, St Martin Canal 1870.jpg, '' St. Martin Canal'' (1870) File:Sisley-Early Snow at Louveciennes.jpg, ''Early Snow at Louveciennes'' (c. 1871–72) File:Sisley-Among the Vines Louveciennes.jpg, ''Among the Vines Louveciennes'' (1874) File:Alfred Sisley - Fog, Voisins - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Fog, Voisins'' (1874) File:Alfred Sisley 009.jpg, ''Bridge at Hampton Court'' (1874) File:Alfred Sisley 050.jpg, '' Regatta at Molesey'' (1874) File:La Petite Place - La Rue du Village - Alfred Sisley - ABDAG000505.jpg, ''La Petite Place - La Rue du Village'' (1874),
Aberdeen Art Gallery Aberdeen Art Gallery is the main visual arts exhibition space in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1884 in a building designed by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie, with a sculpture court added in 1905. In 1900, it received the art ...
File:Sisley-Under the Bridge at Hampton Court.jpg, '' Under the Bridge at Hampton Court'' (1874) File:Meadow, Alfred Sisley, 1875.jpg, '' The Meadow'' (1875) File:Alfred Sisley (1839-1899) - The Flood at Port-Marly - PD.69-1958 - Fitzwilliam Museum.jpg, ''The Flood at Port Marly'' (1876),
Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard FitzWilliam, 7th V ...
File:La havre muma sisley pont moret.JPG, ''Le Pont de Moret, effet d'orage'', 1887, Musée Malraux,
Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...
File:Alfred Sisley - View of Saint-Mammès - Walters 37355.jpg, ''View of Saint-Mammès'', (circa 1880), The Walters Art Museum File:Alfred Sisley - Un sentier aux Sablons (A path at Les Sablons) - Google Art Project.jpg, ''A path at Les Sablons'' (1883) File:Alfred Sisley, The Port of Moret-sur-Loing - At night, 1884.jpg, ''The Port of Moret-sur-Loing'' (1884) File:Alfred Sisley - Women Going to the Woods - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Women Going to the Woods'' (1886) File:Alfred Sisley 013.jpg, ''Seaside, Langland '' (1887) File:Alfred Sisley 038.jpg, ''Church in Moret'' (1889) File:Alfred Sisley 051.jpg, ''Saint-Mammès in the Morning'' (1890) File:Alfred Sisley - Le Givre à Veneux - UMMA.jpg, ''Le Givre à Veneux'', 1880,
University of Michigan Museum of Art The University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Michigan with is one of the largest university art museums in the United States. Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alumni Memorial Hall ori ...


Notes


References

*Bomford, David, Jo Kirby, John Leighton, Ashok Roy, and Raymond White (1990). ''Impressionism''. London: National Gallery. *Daulte, F. (1959). ''Alfred Sisley Catalogue raisonnee de l'oeuvre peint'' *Denvir, B. (2000). ''The Chronicle of Impressionism: An Intimate Diary of the Lives and World of the Great Artists''. London: Thames & Hudson. *Poulet, A. L., & Murphy, A. R. (1979). ''Corot to Braque: French Paintings from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston''. Boston: The Museum. *Reed, Nicholas, (2008). ''Sisley on the Thames and the Welsh Coast''. Lilburne Press. *Rosenblum, Robert (1989). ''Paintings in the Musée d'Orsay''. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang. *Turner, J. (2000). ''From Monet to Cézanne: late 19th-century French artists''. Grove Art. New York: St Martin's Press.


External links

* *
Alfred Sisley.org

Paintings by Sisley
* *
''Impressionism : a centenary exhibition, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 12, 1974 – February 10, 1975''
fully digitised text from The Metropolitan Museum of Art libraries {{DEFAULTSORT:Sisley, Alfred 1839 births 1899 deaths 19th-century English painters 19th-century French painters Artists from Paris English male painters French male painters British alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts British Impressionist painters Deaths in France Deaths from throat cancer French Impressionist painters French people of English descent