Alfred Sisley

Alfred Sisley
Alfred Sisley in 1882
Born	(1839-10-30)30 October 1839 Paris,France
Died	29 January 1899(1899-01-29)(aged 59) Moret-sur-Loing,France
Nationality	British
Education	Marc-Charles-Gabriel Gleyre
Known for	Painting
Movement	Impressionism

Molesey Weir – Morning,one of the paintings executed by Sisley on his trip to England in 1874

Flood at Port-Marly(1876)

Alfred Sisley(30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was anEnglishImpressionistlandscapepainter.He was aBritishcitizen,but was born, and spent most of his life, inFrance.Sisley is known for his Impressionist landscapes painteden plein air,that is, outdoors. He never went intoportraitpainting and continued in the impressionist style all his career.

Among his most important works are a series of paintings of the RiverThames,mostly aroundHampton Court,painted in 1874, and various paintings showing places in or nearMoret-sur-Loing.

Biography

Sisley was born inParisto rich English parents. His father William Sisley was in thesilkbusiness, and his mother Felicia Sell enjoyed music. In 1857, at the age of 18, Sisley was sent toLondonto study for a career in business, but he gave it up after four years and returned to Paris. In 1862 he studied at theatelierofSwissartistMarc-Charles-Gabriel Gleyre,where he metFrédéric Bazille,Claude Monet,andPierre-Auguste Renoir.

Together they would paint landscapes in the open rather than in the studio. This helped them to capture the changing effects of sunlight. This new approach resulted in paintings more colorful and more broadly painted than people were used to seeing. At first Sisley and his friends had few chances to show or sell their work. Their works were usually rejected by the jury of the most importantart exhibitionin France, the annualSalon.During the 1860s, though, Sisley was in a better position than some of his fellow artists, for his father regularly gave him money.

In 1866 Sisley began a relationship with Eugénie Lesouezec (1834–1898; also known as Marie Lescouezec). They had two children: son Pierre (born 1867) and daughter Jeanne (1869).At the time, Sisley lived not far from Avenue de Clichy and theCafé Guerbois,the meeting place of many Parisian painters. In 1868 his paintings were accepted at the Salon, but it did not bring him any financial or critical success, and neither did any of the subsequent exhibitions.

TheFranco-Prussian Warwhich began in 1870 caused Sisley's father's business to fail. The painter's only income was from the sale of his works. He lived in poverty for the rest of his life, as the value of his paintings only rose in value after his death.Occasionally, however, Sisley would be helped by hispatrons,which allowed him, among other things, to make a few short trips to England. The first trip was in 1874 after the first independent Impressionist exhibition. The result of the trip was a series of nearly 20 paintings of the UpperThamesnearMolesey.Art historianKenneth Clarksaid this was "a perfect moment of Impressionism."

Until 1880, Sisley lived and worked in the countryside west of Paris; then Sisley and his family moved to a small village near Moret-sur-Loing. This was close to the forest ofFontainebleauwhere the painters of theBarbizon schoolhad 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 theCôte d'Azur."In 1881 Sisley made one more short trip to England.

In 1897 Sisley and his partner visitedWalesand were married inCardiffRegister Office on 5 August.They stayed atPenarth,where he painted at least six pictures of the sea and the cliffs. In mid-August they moved to the Osborne Hotel on the Gower Peninsula, where he painted at least eleven oil-paintings in and around Rotherslade Bay. They returned to France in October. This was Sisley's last trip to England. The National Museum of Wales in Cardiff now has two of his Welsh paintings.

In 1898 he applied for French citizenship but was refused. He made a second application supported by a police report. He became ill before the application was accepted,with Sisley remaining English until his death. The painter died ofthroat cancerin Moret-sur-Loing at the age of 59, just a few months after the death of his wife.

Work

Sisley's first works are lost. His earliest known work isLane near a Small Town.This is believed to have been painted around 1864. His first landscape paintings are sad and gloomy, coloured with dark browns, greens, and pale blues. They were often painted atMarlyandSaint-Cloud.No one knows if Sisley's knew the paintings ofJ. M. W. TurnerandJohn Constable,which he may have seen in London. These artists have been suggested as an influence on his development as an Impressionist painter,as well asGustave CourbetandJean-Baptiste-Camille Corot.

Among the Impressionists Sisley has been overshadowed by Monet. Sisley's work very similar to that ofCamille Pissarro.Described by art historian Robert Rosenblum as having "almost a generic character, an impersonal textbook idea of a perfect Impressionist painting",his work strongly creates atmosphere and his skies are always very impressive. His concentration on landscape subjects was the most consistent of any of the Impressionists.

Among Sisley's best-known works areStreet in MoretandSand Heaps,andThe Bridge at Moret-sur-Loingshown atMusée d'Orsay,Paris.Allée des peupliers de Moret(The Lane of Poplars at Moret) has been stolen three times from theMusée des Beaux-ArtsinNice.The first time was in 1978 when on loan inMarseille,but it was found a few days later in the city'ssewers.It was stolen again in 1998 and the museum's curator was convicted of the theft and jailed for five years along with two friends. It was stolen again in August 2007. On 4 June 2008, the French National Police found it and three other stolen paintings inside a van in Marseille.

Gallery

• 
  Avenue of Chestnut Trees near La Celle-Saint-Cloud,1865
• 
  Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne1872
• 
  Bridge at Hampton Court,1874
• 
  Regatta at Hampton Court,1874
• 
  Regatta at Molesey,1874
• 
  Meadow,1875

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.ISBN0-87846-134-5
• Reed, Nicholas, (2008).Sisley on the Thames and the Welsh Coast.Lilburne Press.ISBN978-1-901167-20-7
• Rosenblum, Robert (1989).Paintings in the Musée d'Orsay.New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang.ISBN1-55670-099-7
• Turner, J. (2000).From Monet to Cézanne: late 19th-century French artists.Grove Art. New York: St Martin's Press.ISBN0-312-22971-2

Other websites

• Alfred Sisley.org
• Paintings by SisleyArchived2012-10-22 at theWayback Machine
• Sisley images and biography at CGFAArchived2002-12-16 at theWayback Machine
• The Impressionistsat Biography(from archive.org)