As an artist Picabia consistently defied categorisation, repeatedly aligning himself with myriad artistic movements and separating himself from any restrictive edicts. Although perhaps most famous for his later Dada and Surrealist output, his art from the late nineteenth and first decade of the twentieth centuries offers an exquisite array of Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist imagery of the highest calibre.

Painted in a vibrant palette, Bords du Loing à Moret, effet du soleil is one of a number of canvases that mark a turning point in Francis Picabia's early career, a period marked by an eager exploration of Neo-Impressionism and Fauvist colouration. The view of the picturesque riverbanks and groves of poplar trees at Moret-sur-Loing had inspired other Impressionist artists including Pissarro and Sisley, both of whose work Picabia greatly admired. Unlike the older generation of painters before him however, Picabia was less interested in capturing the changing moods of his chosen landscape than in the making of an ‘Impressionist’ painting. It was noted by contemporaries, including Pissarro’s sons with whom Picabia spent time in Moret, that rather than painting en plein air in the traditional Impressionist fashion, Picabia often conjured his visions of rural France from photographs or postcards, marking the beginning of a practice that would remain central to his art throughout his career.

The present work is a wonderful example of the vision of a landscape seen through the eyes of an artist overflowing with emotion, as he had recently met his soon-to-be first wife Gabrielle Buffet and was enjoying the stability of personal financial success. With short, confident brushstrokes and employing a chromatically rich palette with juxtaposing colours of purple, turquoise and ochre, Picabia superbly captures the glimmer of light and shadow on the water, the dappled light of the sun through the tree and the joy of the riverbank on a late summer afternoon.