Lot 394
  • 394

Alfred Sisley

Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 USD
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Description

  • Alfred Sisley
  • Gardeuse d'oies aux Sablons
  • Stamped Sisley. (lower right)
  • Pastel on card
  • 10 1/8 by 15 5/8 in.
  • 25.6 by 39.7 cm

Provenance

Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, November 18, 1989, lot 9
Private Collection (acquired in London in 1990 and sold: Christie's, London, February 3, 2010, lot 294)
Acquired at the above sale 

Condition

Executed on thick card, not laid down and floating in the frame. Some frame rubbing is visible to the extreme edges with some minor associated pigment loss. The edges are slightly unevenly cut. The colours are fresh and this work is in overall very good condition.
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.

Catalogue Note

Relocating from Moret to Les Sablons in the mid-1880s, Sisley found this quiet landscape ideally suited for his increasing production of pastels, a medium he then favored for its relative affordability and its commercial appeal. He experienced great and immediate success, convincingly articulating his superior mastery of the medium. The resulting images remain some of the most highly regarded and widely collected of all his 1880s and 1890s output.

Increasingly focused on working in series, Sisley created a small but brilliant group of images featuring geese as well as goose girls, figures which imbued his characteristically vacant rural settings with human presence. He rendered these images in all seasons and at every time of day, expressing impressive range in his depiction of vivid skies, from "absolutely limpid summer blues gaining in density towards the zenith, to skies as vehement as any in Van Gogh or Vlaminck" (Richard Shone, Sisley, London, 1992, p. 135).