Alfred Sisley

Durand-Ruel, Paris & New York
Erwin Davis, New York (acquired from the above)
Durand-Ruel, New York (acquired from the above on 7th January 1899)
Frank Hadley Ginn & Cornelia Root Ginn, Cleveland (acquired from the above on 8th March 1926)
The Frank Hadley Ginn & Cornelia Root Ginn Charitable Trust (by descent from the above. Sold: Christie's, New York, 8th May 2000, lot 6)
Purchased at the above sale by the previous owner

François Daulte, Alfred Sisley, catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Lausanne, 1959, no. 565, illustrated (catalogued as dated 85 on the lower left)

The canvas is unlined and the edges are strip-lined. Apart from a 2.5cm. line of retouching at the centre of the top edge, and two very small spots of retouching in the sky, visible under ultra-violet light, this work is in very good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate in the printed catalogue illustration, although slightly fresher in the original.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

For Sisley, the relationship between land, water and sky was a subject of endless fascination. Wherever he painted – Hampton Court, Saint Cloud, the area around Veneux-Nadan or Moret-sur-Loing – he often incorporated scenes of rivers or lakes to enliven his pictures. Sisley often chose locations that bore some evidence of human presence, such as rural villages or farms. But for the present work, he chose a remote spot that looks untouched by civilisation. His concern in this work, painted in 1885, is clearly that of the natural landscape and the effects of light and shadow as depicted en plein air.

 

Sylvie Patin wrote of Sisley's landscapes from the 1880s: 'Sisley's art did not stand still during his last two decades, and modifications to his technique, palette and approach to subject matter were certainly introduced. For example, it was in the Saint-Mammès river scenes of 1881 that he began to analyze the various sections of a landscape through the application of different types of brushstroke. Or again, he realized the full potential of using a specific type of brushstroke and quality of paint to identify the mood of a landscape, be it thin, flat strokes of dry, almost chalky paint to convey a becalmed, crisp winter day, or bolder, more fully laden strokes of pigment let down with more oil to capture the shimmering heat of a mid-summer day. His palette also extended to include a more consistent application of dabs of primary colors during the mid-1880s, possibly reflecting contact with Neo-Impressionism, and his range of tonalities came to be centered more consistently on an axis of green and lilac, such as is also found in the contemporaneous works of Guillaumin, Toulouse-Lautrec and the Belgian Neo-Impressionists. Finally, it was in these closing two decades of his life that Sisley's concern to provide visual maps of the locations in which he lived or worked is most coherently realized' (S. Patin, 'Veneux-Nadon and Moret-sur-Loing: 1880-1899', in Alfred Sisley (exhibition catalogue), Royal Academy of Arts, London; Musée d'Orsay, Paris & The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 1992, p. 183).