''The Watering Trough at Marly with Hoarfrost'' is an 1876 painting by

Alfred Sisley Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an Impressionist landscape 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 dedic ...

. It was owned by

François Depeaux François Depeaux (13 July 1853 - 11 October 1920) was a French industrialist, art collector and patron. He was one of the defenders of the Rouen School. Life He was born in Bois-Guillaume. He bought a coal mine near Swansea in Wales and develope ...

, a Sisley collector, and passed through other collections before ending up in that of

Paul Mellon Paul Mellon (June 11, 1907 – February 2, 1999) was an American philanthropist and a horse breeding, breeder of thoroughbred horse racing, racehorses. He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Muse ...

. It is now in the

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the supp ...

in Richmond, United States. It was painted at

Marly-le-Roi Marly-le-Roi () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the administrative region of Île-de-France, France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Marly-le-Roi was the location of the Château de Marly, ...

and is part of his

Marly series The ''Marly'' series is a series of twenty oil on canvas paintings by Alfred Sisley of the town of Marly-Le-Roi. Sisley lived in the town from his return from a painting trip to England at the end of 1874 until he moved to live in Sèvres in Augu ...

. Sisley's works showing the watering trough and '' The Flood at Port-Marly'' are two series of Impressionist masterworks comparable to

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

's ''Gare Lazare'' series,

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 ...

's '' The Swing'' and ''

Bal du moulin de la Galette ''Bal du moulin de la Galette'' (commonly known as ''Dance at Le moulin de la Galette'') is an 1876 painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It is housed at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and is one of Impressionism's most celebrated master ...

'' series,

Berthe Morisot Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot (; 14 January 1841 – 2 March 1895) was a French painter, printmaker and a member of the circle of painters in Paris who became known as the Impressionists. In 1864, Morisot exhibited for the first time in the ...

's ''Champs de blé'' series and

Camille 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). ...

's ''Vues de Pontoise'' and ''Toits rouges'' series. Sisley did not much change his point of view between each painting, but he dramatically changed the background, proving his ability to vary views of a limited section of countryside. The watering trough became a favourite subject of Sisley's during his time at Marly, breaking with subjects of the 18th- and early-19th-century Paris Salons. Like Pissarro, Monet and Renoir, he showed more interest in its current domestic and utilitarian use than in its status as a remnant of the

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

or its past life as an ornamental lake.Christopher Lloyd, in ''Sisley: Royal Academy of Arts, Londres, 3 juillet-18 octobre 1992, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 28 octobre 1992-31 janvier 1993, Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 14 mars-13 juin 1993'', Réunion des musées nationaux, 1992, p. 180

Context

Sisley moved into 2 avenue de l'Abreuvoir at Marly in winter 1874–1875 and remained there until 1877, exploring the village and its surroundings. A window of his house overlooked the

abreuvoir A watering trough (or artificial watering point) is a man-made or natural receptacle intended to provide drinking water to animals, livestock on farms or ranches or wild animals. History In Australia, the watering trough is established so t ...

and he made several studies of it and also of the town's park. Marly's abreuvoir was then the last remnant of the cascades, basins and fountains of the gardens of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

château de Marly The Château de Marly () was a French royal residence located in what is now Marly-le-Roi, the commune on the northern edge of the royal park. This was situated west of the palace and garden complex at Versailles. Marly-le-Roi is the town that d ...

, designed by

André Le Nôtre André Le Nôtre (; 12 March 1613 – 15 September 1700), originally rendered as André Le Nostre, was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France. He was the landscape architect who designed Gardens ...

and destroyed under the

French First Empire The First French Empire or French Empire (; ), also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from ...

. Pierre Cabanne, Guide artistique de la France Bibliothèque des guides bleus, ISSN 1776-7938, Hachette, 1968, p. 88 The waters of the Seine was pumped and channeled via the

Aqueduc de Louveciennes L'Aqueduc de Louveciennes (Louveciennes Aqueduct), sometimes called Aqueduc de Marly (Marly Aqueduct) is an Aqueduct (bridge), aqueduct built in the 17th century under the reign of Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV, located in Louveciennes (now in ...

and the

Machine de Marly The Machine de Marly (), also known as the Marly Machine or the Machine of Marly, was a large hydraulic system in Yvelines, France, built in 1684 to pump water from the river Seine and deliver it to the Palace of Versailles.Thompson 2006, p. ...

, two buildings which appeared in several of Sisley's works. Whilst he was living at Marly-le-Roi, the basin had been converted into an abreuvoir for watering horses and washing linen for the villages of Louveciennes and Marley,Frances Fowles, in ''Alfred Sisley: poète de l'impressionnisme : Lyon, musée des beaux-arts, 10 octobre 2002-6 janvier 2003'', Réunion des musées nationaux, 2002, p. 174-176 but it was still the only part of the château's estate to be classified as a

Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

, a title it gained in 1862. The Chevaux de Marly statues which had adorned the basin had already been moved to the

Place de la Concorde The Place de la Concorde (; ) is a public square in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. It was the s ...

in Paris. Since the 1990s, a full-size reproduction of the work has been on show near the site on which it was painted as part of the Pays des Impressionnistes project.Le circuit Pissarro
/ref>Anthony Lacoudre, ''Ici est né l'impressionnisme : guide de randonnées en Yvelines'', préface Claude Bonin-Pissarro, Éd. du Valhermeil, 2003, , p. 141-142 The work shows a winter scene, including the ramp allowing horses to enter the water in summer, although that ramp features more markedly in ''Horse Bath in Port-Marly'' (D. 172). Lisa Portnoy Stein argues that Sisley slightly modifies their position and decreases the size of the basin, the better to show the village and its houses at the composition's centre. The work's horizontal composition, compared to the other works in the group, accentuates this impression.

Provenance

, Rouen * Sold by the Galerie

Georges Petit Georges Petit (; 11 March 1856 – 12 May 1920) was a French art dealer, a key figure in the Paris art world and an important promoter and cultivator of Impressionist artists. Early career Petit was the son of François Petit, who founded the ...

, Paris, 31 May-1 June 1906, bought by

Paul Durand-Ruel Paul Durand-Ruel (; 31 October 1831 – 5 February 1922) was a French art dealer associated with the Impressionists and the Barbizon School. Being the first to support artists such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, he ...

for 8 000 francs * Sold on 17 November 1913 to Paul Cassirer, Berlin * Dr Curt Hirschland, Essen * Wildenstein, New York * Mrs Hirschland, New York * Mr and Mrs Paul Mellon * Mr and Mrs Paul Mellon Collection, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watering Trough Paintings by Alfred Sisley 1876 paintings Paintings in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Water in art

Context

Provenance

See also

References