Alfred Sisley
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Alfred Sisley (October 30, 1839 – January 29, 1899) was a British Impressionist landscape painter who lived and worked in France.
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[edit] Biography
Sisley was born in Paris to affluent English parents, William Sisley and Felicia Sell. In the early 1860s he studied in the atelier of Marc-Charles-Gabriel Gleyre, where he became acquainted with Frederic Bazille, Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Together they would paint landscapes en plein air (out-of-doors) in order to realistically capture transient effects of sunlight. This approach, innovative at the time, resulted in paintings more colorful 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, although unlike some of his fellow students who suffered financial hardships, Sisley received an allowance from his father.
Sisley's student works are lost. His earliest known work, Lane near a Small Town is believed to have been painted around 1864.
In 1866, he married Eugenie Lesouezec, with whom he had two children.[1] His financial security vanished in 1870 when his father's business failed, and Sisley's sole means of support became the sale of his works. His paintings rose significantly in monetary value only after his death, and for the remainder of his life he would live in poverty.[2]
In 1880 Sisley and his family moved to a small village near Moret-sur-Loing, close to the Fontainebleau forest where the painters of the Barbizon school 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."[3]
Apart from a period spent in London in 1857-61—and brief trips to England in 1874, 1881, and 1897—Sisley lived his entire life in France. Little is known about his relationship with the paintings of J. M. W. Turner and John Constable, which he may well have seen in London, although these artists have been suggested as an influence on his development as an Impressionist painter.[4]
Among the Impressionists Sisley has been overshadowed by Monet, whose work his most resembles, although Sisley was less experimental, and tended to work on a smaller scale. Described as having "almost a generic character, an impersonal textbook idea of a perfect Impressionist painting",[5] his work strongly invokes atmosphere and his skies are always very impressive. His concentration on landscape subjects was the most consistent of any of the Impressionists.
Sisley died in Moret-sur-Loing at the age of 59, just a few months after the death of his wife.
[edit] Well-known works
Among Sisley's best known works are Street in Moret and Sand Heaps, both owned by the Art Institute of Chicago, and The Bridge at Moret-sur-Loing shown at Musée d'Orsay, Paris.
[edit] Selected works
- Lane near a Small Town (c. 1864)
- Avenue of Chestnut Trees near La Celle-Saint-Cloud (c. 1865)
- Village Street in Marlotte (1866)
- Avenue of Chestnut Trees near La Celle-Saint-Cloud (1867)
- Still Life with Heron (1867)
- View of Montmartre from the cite des Fleurs (1869)
- Early Snow at Louveciennes (c. 1871-1872)
- Boulevard Heloise, Argenteuil (1872)
- Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne (1872)
- Ferry to the Ile-de-la-Loge - Flood (1872)
- Footbridge at Argenteuil (1872)
- La Grande-Rue, Argenteuil (c. 1872)
- Square in Argenteuil (Rue de la Chaussee) (1872)
- Chemin de la Machine Louveciennes (1873)
- Factory in the Flood, Bougival (1873)
- Rue de la Princesse, Louveciennes (1873)
- Sentier de la Mi-cote, Louveciennes (1873)
- Among the Vines Louveciennes (1874)
- Bridge at Hampton Court (1874)
- The Lesson (1874)
- Molesey Weir - Morning (1874)
- Regatta at Hampton Court (1874)
- Regattas at Molessey (1874)
- Snow on the Road Louveciennes (1874)
- Under the Bridge at Hampton Court (1874)
- Street in Louveciennes (Rue de la Princesse) (1875)
- Small Meadows in Spring (c. 1881)
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Denvir, B. (2000). The Chronicle of Impressionism: An Intimate DIary of the Lives and World of the Great Artists. London: Thames & Hudson. OCLC 43339405
- Poulet, A. L., & Murphy, A. R. (1979). Corot to Braque: French Paintings from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston: The Museum. ISBN 0-87846-134-5
- Rosenblum, Robert (1989). Paintings in the Musée d'Orsay. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang. ISBN 1-55670-099-7
- Turner, J. (2000). From Monet to Cézanne: late 19th-century French artists. Grove Art. New York: St Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-22971-2
[edit] External links
- The Impressionists at Biography (from archive.org)
- Sisley images and biography at CGFA
