Alfred Sisley

Dr Charles Abadie, Paris (sale: Hôtel Drouot, Vente Charles Abadie, Paris, 17th April 1913, lot 27)
Private Collection, France
Sale: Claude Aguttes, Paris, 20th December 2006, lot 159
Richard Green Galleries, London
Priavte Collection, U.S.A (acquired from the above)

Jacques Lassaigne & Sylvie Gache-Patin, Sisley, Paris, 1983, no. 36, illustrated

Executed on a thick buff paper, not laid down, hinged to the mount in two places on the upper edge and two places on the lower edge. There are some tiny nicks and tears to parts of the extreme edges, including a paper loss to the centre of the extreme right edge (none of which is visible when framed). The colours are exceptionally bright and fresh. This work is in overall very good condition.
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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."

With its crisp palette and remarkably fresh colouring, enhanced by the crumbling pastel surface, Les Oies à Saint-Mammés epitomises the daring experimentation undertaken by the Impressionists in the latter half of the 19^th century. Sisley, who was dedicated to working en plein air, would appear to have captured this scene on an early Summer’s morning while the shadows are still long and before the sun’s harsh brightness bleaches out all colour. He uses colour as a compositional device, with blue uniting the scene and yellow, red and green serving as frame. The dominance of the sky in this work is particularly striking, and the artist might just as well have been referring to this very picture 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).

Sisley had moved to Veneux-Nadon near Moret-sur-Loing in 1880, and would regularly move between the two villages before his death in 1899. At first he painted numerous views of the bridge, river bank and quayside of Saint-Mammès before focusing his attention on Le Loing and its canal, which joined the Seine at Saint-Mammès. He was clearly exceptionally fond of the area, writing again to Adolphe Tavernier: ‘It is at Moret – in this thickly wooded countryside with its tall poplars, the waters of the river Loing here so beautiful, so translucent, so changeable; at Moret my art has undoubtedly developed most […] I will never really leave this little place that is so picturesque.’ (quoted in Richard Shone, Sisley, New York, 1992, p. 123). From 1877 Sisley no longer exhibited at the Salon and it is through the gentle landscapes of Moret that he expresses his freedom from the constraints of the canon. This work demonstrates Sisley at the height of his maturity, applying the full force of his art and producing an image of great beauty and lyricism.