Alfred Sisley

Léonard & Co., New York
Durand-Ruel, New York (acquired from the above in February 1909)
Mrs Russel, Boston (acquired from the above in November 1944)
Knoedler & Co., New York
Mr & Mrs Richard J. Bernhard, New York
Galerie Cazeau-Béraudière, Paris
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh, French Painting of the 19th Century, 1939, no. 17
London, Marlborough Gallery, A Great Period of French Painting, 1963, no. 37, illustrated in the catalogue

François Daulte, Alfred Sisley. Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint, Lausanne, 1959, no. 548, illustrated

The canvas is lined. There is no evidence of retouching under ultra-violet light. This work is in very good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate, although fresher and more varied; in particular the blue tones are more pronounced in the original.
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Painted in 1884, Paysage près de Moret dates from the period when Sisley lived in Moret-sur-Loing, were he had settled in 1880, and which provided a perfect setting for the artist. Sisley cherished the beauty and quietness of Moret, which provided an important source of inspiration. He took particular interest in the town's Gothic church of Notre-Dame, a subject of a large series of paintings, as well as in the river Loing, with its multi-arched bridge which is visible here on the far left of the composition. Rather than painting a picturesque view of Moret from across the river, for the present work Sisley chose to depict the edge of the town, with its inhabitants going about their daily tasks. He seems to have painted this work in the late afternoon, the long purple shadows creating a vivid contrast to the shimmering light reflected in the trees and on the water surface.

 

The beautifully painted sky that occupies a large section of the composition embodies the importance that the artist attached to this part of the landscape, as 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 clouds give movement to a picture. What is more beautiful indeed than the summer sky, with its wispy clouds idly floating across the blue? What movement and grace! Don't you agree? They are like waves on the sea; one is uplifted and carried away' (quoted in Sisley (exhibition catalogue), Wildenstein & Co., New York, 1966, n.p.).