Alfred Sisley

Ernest May, Paris

Van Wisselingh & Co., Amsterdam

Charles Durand-Ruel, Paris (acquired from the above on August 12, 1938)

Thence by descent

Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, Alfred Sisley, 1917, no. 17

Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Sisley, 1957, no. 1, illustrated in the catalogue

Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Sisley, 1971, no. 2

J.-A. Cartier, Sisley, Le Jardin des Arts, 1957, no. 33, illustrated p. 533

Francois Daulte, Alfred Sisley, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Lausanne, 1959, no. 13, illustrated

The canvas is lined. Under ultra violet light, retouching appears along the framing edges, especially a band along the upper horizontal framing edge. There is also an area in the sky in the upper left and some minimal retouching in the water, foreground and boats. Many of these retouchings appear excessive and could be reduced by a professional restorer.
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.

Painted in 1870 at the dawning of the Impressionist movement, the present composition is one of Sisley's first serious undertakings of the plein-air techniques that would come to define the style of the avant-garde at the end of the 19th century.  This picture was completed while Sisley was staying with Monet in Argenteuil, where he painted a group of works that document his observations of the town and its riverbanks. Despite a general similarity in style to Monet's work of this period (fig. 1), Sisley's own artistic preoccupations are evident in the subject matter of these paintings. As the critic Gustave Geffroy noted in 1923, "He sought to express the harmonies that prevail, in all weathers and at every time of day, between foliage, water and sky, and he succeeded [...] He loved river banks; the fringes of woodland; towns and villages glimpsed through the old trees; old buildings swamped in greenery; winter morning sunlight; summer afternoons" (G. Geffroy, 'Sisley', in Les Cahiers d'Aujourd'hui, Paris, 1923).

La Seine à Argenteuil, with its tranquil ambiance and focus on the pre-industrial aspects of the river, epitomizes Sisley's artistic concerns.  His focus on the picturesque aspects of rural life rather than the modern business of Argenteuil may reflect the romanticized visions of his patrons, who preferred scenes of nature unspoilt by the industrial incursion of nearby Paris now reachable by train from the recently-built Saint-Lazare Station.  Although the boats in the foreground do document riverside commercial activity, their inclusion in this picture functions to enhance the over-all aesthetic appeal (fig. 2). 

The composition as a whole illustrates Sisley's great talent for recognizing the timeless natural beauty of a landscape in transformation.  As an anonymous article published in Le Figaro on February 27, 1897 commented, "Having learnt very early to master the sublime book of Nature, Sisley immediately excelled in translating the mysterious ambiance of the atmosphere, the shimmering ripples of running water... and above all the shifting immensity of the great skies..."

Sisley's compositions from the 1870s are regarded as the finest of his oeuvre.  As Richard Shone noted in his monograph on the artist, "Sisley worked in all seasons and weathers along this beautiful and still unspoilt bank of the Seine.  Its topography gave him new configurations of space in which far horizons combined with plunging views below; the horizontals of skyline, riverbank and receding path are overlaid by emphatic verticals and diagonals to produce densely structured surfaces.  This becomes particularly evident in his landscapes painted in winter or early spring, before summer foliage obscured these far-reaching lines of vision.  It is then, too, that Sisley's skies assume a greater variety and grandeur.  With more subtlety than before, he determines the exact relation of the sky to the silhouette of the land.  He knows how to differentiate its planes, order its clouds, diminish or enlarge its scope to produce a harmony inseparable from the landscape below" (R. Shone, Sisley, London, 1992, p. 135).

The first owner of this picture was Ernest May, the prominent Parisian financier who appears as a central figure in Degas' extraordinary oil, La Bourse.  May was one of the first collectors of Impressionist painting and a patron of Sisley in particular.  In addition to the present work, he owned Ile Saint Denis, now in the collection of the Musée d'Orsay.  After the picture left May's collection, it passed through the Dutch dealer Van Wisselingh, who sold it to Charles Durand-Ruel.  Even though he had his pick of Impressionist paintings given the nature of his relationship with these artists, Paul Durand-Ruel only became acquainted with Sisley in the mid-1870s and had missed the opportunity to acquire several of his most important early Impressionist paintings.  Half a century later, Charles Durand-Ruel, Paul Durand-Ruel's second son, purchased this painting from the Van Wisselingh gallery in the Netherlands, and it took its place among the family's collection, hanging in the private office of Charles' nephew until recently.