Alfred Sisley

Paul Durand-Ruel, Paris
Durand-Ruel, Paris (acquired from the above on August 11, 1888)
Jean d’Alayer, Paris (by descent from the above in the 1950s)
Sam Salz, New York (acquired from the above in March 1959)
Martin J. & Sidney A. Zimet, New York (acquired by 1962 and sold: Sotheby's, London, October 23, 1963, lot 1)
Arthur Tooth & Sons, Ltd., London (acquired at the above sale)
Charles & Rose Wohlstetter, New York (acquired from the above on February 2, 1967 and sold: Sotheby's, New York, November 7, 2006, lot 66)
Acquired at the above sale 

Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, Exposition Sisley, 1897, no. 65
Saint Petersburg, Exposition française des beaux-arts et décoratifs, 1899, no. 343
Paris, Durand-Ruel, Sisley, 1902, no. 8
Copenhagen, Musée royal, Exposition d'art français du XIXe siècle, 1914, no. 201
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Summer Loan Exhibition, 1962, no. 88 (titled Landscape near Saint-Mammès)
London, Arthur Tooth & Sons, Ltd., Paris-Londres: A Collection of Pictures, Many Recently Acquired in France, 1964, no. 3, illustrated in the catalogue
New York, Acquavella Galleries, Four Masters of Impressionism, 1968, no. 27

Vittorio Pica, Gli Impressionisti francesi, Bergamo, 1908, illustrated p. 139
François Daulte, Alfred Sisley, Catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre peint, Lausanne, 1959, no. 370, illustrated n.p.

Work is in very good condition. Canvas is lined. Surface is clean. Under UV light: a few pindots of inpainting around extreme edges to address prior frame abrasion and one very small stroke in sky at top center near edge, otherwise fine.
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.

Saint-Mammès lies at the confluence of the Seine and the Loing rivers, just south of the Fontainebleau Forest. Sisley, who at the time lived in nearby Veneux-Nadon, was drawn to the charm of the village and painted different views of Saint-Mammès throughout the 1880s. The most stylistically sophisticated works from this series are his depictions of the log piles from a nearby lumber mill. The present canvas, which is one of the first of these depictions, reveals the unexpected charm of this subject.

Philip Conisbee wrote of a very similar work (Daulte no. 371): "Sisley painted over a hundred scenes of Saint-Mammès; in several of these he employed a similar composition of a receding road bordered on one side by houses and on the other by trees and a view of the river. Chestnut trees, such as the isolated one seen here, featured prominently in the town landscape... The large expanse of the subtly rendered sky distinguishes many of Sisley's finest paintings; he was constantly preoccupied with capturing the effects of light and changing weather. The meticulous, intricate brushwork is typical of Sisley around 1880, but unlike Monet, his forms always remained distant masses" (Philip Conisbee, Rodin and his Contemporaries: The Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Collection, New York, 1991, p. 160).