Alfred Sisley

Galerie Bernheim-Jeune et Cie., Paris
Paul Harth, Paris (acquired from the above in 1899)
Acquired by the present owner in 1992

Paris, Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Tableaux de collections parisiennes, 1955, no. 120

François Daulte, Alfred Sisley, Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint, Lausanne, 1959, no. 883, illustrated p. 337

The canvas is not lined and there are no signs of retouching visible under UV light. This work is in very good condition.
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Le Canal du Loing au printemps - le matin beautifully encapsulates the themes most celebrated in Sisley's work during the 1880s and 90s. Painted from a favourite vantage point along the river Loing near the town of Moret, the present work harmonises the tranquil solitude of the tree-lined rural waterside with the play of reflected light dancing over the surface of the flowing river.

In 1889, Sisley settled in the picturesque village of Moret-sur-Loing, providing the artist with one of his greatest inspirations. Aside from the picturesque town, the surrounding countryside with its walks along the river and clustered out-houses appealed to the artist's eye. As Richard Shone commented, 'he seemed unable for long to resist painting works in which there was water to offer its reflections, and river-banks to provide constantly changing activities' (Richard Shone, Sisley, London, 1992, p. 144).

Fascinated with capturing the fleeting atmospheric changes, Moret-sur-Loing provided Sisley with all the aspects essential to achieving some of his most appealing compositions. Characteristic of his working methods, Sisley started painting the sky in Le Canal du Loing before the foreground, infusing a strength and dynamism into the composition at the outset. As he explained in a letter to his friend, the art critic Adolphe Tavernier, 'the sky is not simply a background; its planes give depth (for the sky has planes, as well as solid ground), and the shapes of the clouds give movement to the picture.' Surveyed from an elevated position, the intense blue of the sky, scattered with rose-tinged clouds, is met with a high horizon-line, investing the motif with a greater sense of depth.

During the 1880s and 90s, Sisley enjoyed a close relationship with Monet and their work simultaneously adopted similarities. The treatment of water and use of blocks of colour in the present work recall Monet's depictions of the lily pond at Giverny and show Sisley at the height of his Impressionistic prowess.