Alfred Sisley

Galerie Durand-Ruel et Cie., Paris (acquired from the artist on December 24, 1883)

Picq, Paris

Galerie Durand-Ruel et Cie., Paris (acquired from the above on June 25, 1892)

Oskar Schmitz, Dresden (acquired from the above on February 15, 1900 and until 1933)

Estate of Oskar Schmitz

Private Collection, Paris (before 1959)

Richard St. Leger Granville  (sold: Sotheby & Co., London, July 4, 1962, lot 58)

Patch (acquired at the above sale)

Galerie Weinmueller, Munich

Private Collection, Europe (acquired from the above in 1964 and sold: Christie's, New York, May 4, 2005, lot 19)

Richard Green Fine Art, London (acquired at the above sale)

Acquired from the above in March 2006

Zurich, Kunsthaus, Die Sammlung Oskar Schmitz, 1932, no. 41

Karl Scheffler, "Die Sammlung Oskar Schmitz in Dresden," Kunst and Künstler, 1920-1921, p. 186

Marie Dormoy, "La Collection Schmitz," L'Amour de l'art, Paris, 1930, p. 343

Wildenstein & Co., ed, The Oskar Schmitz Collection, Paris, 1936, no. 58, illustrated p. 127

Francois Daulte, Alfred Sisley, catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Lausanne, 1959, no. 486, illustrated

Very good condition. Original canvas. There is a very small spot of dirt above the treeline on the right bank of the river. There are a few very minor spots of retouching to the framing edges visible under ultra-violet light. Please note that the consignor purchased the present work from Richard Green Fine Art in 2006, who had purchased this work at auction in 2005.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Sisley returned to Moret throughout his career, inspired by the neo-Gothic cathedral of the town and its picturesque surroundings.  In the 1890s he would complete a famous series of the bridge across the Loing, which featured the closer view of the architecture. In the present work, the artist presents the picturesque outskirts of the town, with the trees and houses along the bank reflecting brilliantly off the water.

Richard Shone discussed the appeal of this location: "The fame of Moret rested not so much on what was found inside the town but on the view it presented from across the Loing. Old flour and tanning mills clustered along the bridge; the river, scattered with tiny islands, seemed more like a moat protecting the houses and terraced gardens that, on either side the sturdy Porte de Bourgogne, in turn defended the pinnacled tower of the church. Add to this the tree-lined walks along the river, the continuous sound of water from the weir and the great wheels of the mills, the houseboats and fishermen, and there was, as every guidebook exclaimed, ‘a captivating picture’, a sight ‘worthy of the brush’. These supremely picturesque aspects of Moret left Sisley unabashed. Gathered in one spot were the motifs that had mesmerized him since he began to paint. Here were water, sky, reflections, a busy riverside; the multi-arched bridge was for the artist the last in a long line of such structures going back through Sèvres and St-Cloud and Hampton Court to Argenteuil and Villeneuve-la-Garenne. Here was that conjunction of man-made and natural, the interweaving of foliage and house fronts between sky and water" (R. Shone, Sisley, London, 1992, p. 159). 

One of the first owners of this picture was the German collector Oskar Schmitz, whose estate was handled by the Wildenstein Gallery.  The picture later came into the possession of Richard St. Leger Granville (1907-1972), a well-known English cricket player who sold the picture at Sotheby's in London in 1962.