Alfred Sisley Impressionist Painter

Alfred Sisley was born on the 30th of October 1839 in Paris to affluent parents. His father William Sisley was in the silk business and traded with the American southern states. When young Alfred left school, his father, William, sent him to London for a business career, but Alfred became disillusioned and decided against this. He returned to Paris in 1862 with the sole aim of becoming an artist. Despite His father’s ambitions for Alfred to follow in him in to business – the family were very supportive of his desires to become an artist. They paid for him to go to Gleyre’s Studio and it was here he met Frederic Bazille, Pierre-August Renoir and Claude Monet. Together they would paint ‘en plein air’ rather than in the studio as they felt this allowed them to capture the transient affects of sunlight. Although this approach was innovative, due to the more brightly coloured works they produced, their work was rejected by the most important art studio in France, The Salon. And, demand for their work was minimal.

Sisley painted in Fontainebleau, at Chailly and later at Marlotte. It can be said that his style at this time was deeply influenced by Daubigny and Courbet. His first exhibition at the Salon in 1867 was as the pupil of Corot. During this time, Sisley had started to frequent the Cafe Guerbois, the gathering place of many Parisian painters and was deeply influenced by the circulating ideas which were creating Impressionism. Throughout the Franco-Prussian war and the period of the Commune, Sisley travelled to London and was introduced to Durand-Ruel, a dealer, by Pissarro. However, as a direct result of the war his father, William, lost all of his money and Sisley, with a family to support was reduced to a state of poverty from which he would never recover. He lived in a state of penury for the rest of his life as his paintings only brought him financial and critical success after he died in 1899.

It was at this time (1870s) that Sisley began to view himself as a professional painter and he became a part of the Impressionist Group. Freed from his earliest influences his work now achieved complete independence; he exhibited with the Impressionist Group in 1874, 1876, 1877 and 1882. It was in the 1870s when he produced the now famous series of landscapes of Argenteuil. The painter Edouard Manet bought the ‘Bridge at Argenteuil’ which today is housed in the Brooks Memorial Gallery in Memphis. Towards the latter end of the decade, Sisley, was becoming more and more influenced by Claude Monet and this is to be witnessed in the series of oil paintings he produced, landscapes of the area around Paris, including ‘Floods at Po-Marley’, ‘Marley’, Bougival and Louveciennes. These works show how his dominance and lyricism respect the demands of the subject matter.

Sisley met and began a relationship with Eugenie Lesouezec (1834-1898) in 1866. Their union produced two children, a daughter, Jeanne, and a son, Pierre. In 1897 the couple travelled to Wales where they were married in Cardiff registry office on August 5th. It was in Wales that Sisley painted six oil paintings of the seas and the cliffs and eleven oil paintings in and around Rotherslade Bay. Wales was Sisley’s ancestral home and the National Museum of Wales now houses two of the oil paintings he produced during his stay.

Amongst Sisley’s most renowned paintings are a series of oil paintings of the River Thames, mostly around Hampton, executed in 1874. And, also Sand Heaps and Street in Moret which are now both owned by the Art Institute of Chicago. One of his paintings, ‘The Lane of Poplars at Moret’ has been stolen three times from the Musee des Beaux-Arts in Nice. The first time (1978) it was stolen it was recovered a few days later in the Marseilles sewers. The second time it was stolen in 1988, the curator of the museum and accomplices were convicted of the theft and were jailed for five years. And finally, it was stolen again in 2007 before being recovered in 2008 by the French National Police along with three other stolen paintings in a van in the city of Marseilles. Oil Paintings Canvas Art Alfred Sisley Paintings

Alfred Sisley

Alfred Sisley was not only one of the most accomplished English Impressionist painters of the nineteenth century: He was also the most consistent. Unlike his contemporaries such as Pissarro and Renoir, Sisley remained dedicated to en plein air landscape oil painting throughout his career – The concepts and agendas of Impressionist Painting satiating his artistic appetite.

Sisley was born in Paris on October 30^th 1839. His parents were affluent English and in 1857 he was sent to complete business studies in London. However, unlike his father a successful businessman, Alfred found he did not wish to pursue this as a career and so he returned to Paris after four years, in 1861.

Just one year later he would take up painting at the studios of Marc Charles Gabriel Glevre: Once the studios of Paul Delaroche until Glevre took them over in 1843. Sisley’s earliest student works have been lost - Lane Near a Small Town is his earliest known surviving painting: Thought to have been produced around 1864.

Through his studies at the Swiss painter’s studios Alfred Sisley came to know Renoir and Monet (Glevre also taught Whistler). It would be Renoir, Monet, Sisley and Frederic Bazille who would take the artistic initiative and investigate the transient effects of painting landscapes outdoors – Known as en plein air painting.

Four years after beginning his studies at the Glevre Studios, in 1866 Sisley met Eugénie Lesouezec: A Breton who was five years his senior. They had two children together and lived close to the famous Parisian Café Guerbois – A meeting place for bohemian artists on Avenue de Clichy. Artists would gather here most Thursdays and Sundays and central to discussion would be the great Édouard Manet– A pivotal figure with regards the nineteenth century transition from realist to impressionist works.

Some people would refer to the group as Les Batignolles – Which simply refers to the neighborhood of Batignolles around the Café Guerbois: Not the heated discussions the group became somewhat infamous for! Indeed, in 1870 (the year the Franco-Prussian war began) the prolific art critic and author of The New Painting, Duranty, was wounded in a duel with Manet; after writing an affronting review.

While Manet was undoubtedly a central figure, Bazille, Monet, Renoir and Sisley would regularly take part in discussions. Emile Zola, Henri Latour, Degas and Duranty also attended on a regular basis: Even Cézanne and Pissarro would join in occasionally – And many of those who did attend were directly associated with Impressionist painting.

En plein air – Impressionist painting was somewhat of a bold and innovative artistic statement at the time: People were not accustomed to the bold brushwork, light and color. As a result, the highly influential Paris Salon committee would repeatedly reject their work. This meant the group rarely had an opportunity to actually exhibit any of the paintings they produced: Which in turn meant sales were slim.

The Paris Salon did accept Sisley’s painting in 1868 but his work did not receive critical acclaim or bring him any financial success. Although initially this did not present a problem for Sisley whose father provided him with an allowance. However, in 1870 due to the onslaught of the war his father’s previously successful business failed leaving Sisley with his work as a sole means of support.

For the latter part, Sisley lived his life in near poverty although he would benefit from backing from patrons on occasion (unfortunately for Sisley, and many artists of the time, his work would become valuable after his death. Shortly after the first independent Impressionist exhibition was held Sisley made his first return trip to England in 1874 – Thanks to his patrons.

Some of hiss most significant works were executed during the few months he spent near Moseley: These were a series of almost twenty oil paintings produced in London’s Hampton area along the River Thames – Since referred to by the much respected art historian Kenneth Clark as the “Perfect moment of impressionism”.

In 1880 Sisley relocated his family to a small village near Moret-sur-Loing, a historic town near Fontainebleau where the artists of the famous Barbizon School had gathered: Until the beginning of the Franco-Prussian war. The landscapes Sisley produced around Moret-sur-Loing are also considered to be among his best works. One year before his death Sisley applied for French citizenship and somewhat incredibly, he was refused. A second application was made, this time supported by a favorable police report. Months after his wife dies and Sisley became ill – He too died soon afterward at the age of fifty nine – And so remained an Englishman his entire life.

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