He left behind about 900 oil paintings, about 100 pastels and various drawings. His paintings, except for the early ones, were all bright and airy, colorful in a subdued way that makes his works contemplative and quiet. All his canvases were divided into sky, earth and water. Among the other Impressionist, Sisley loved painting the water. Like many of the Impressionist painters, Alfred Sisley was also fascinated by the effects of light and shadow and preferred to work outdoors to paint rather than inside a studio. His style was very much influenced by his Impressionist colleagues but Sisley considered himself a student of Courbet, Constable and Corot. Compared to the star of Impressionism, Monet, Sisley’s canvases were considered anemic because his colors were subdued, preferring to use the natural harmony of color and light. He was more like the other genius Impressionist painters such as Gustav Caillebotte. While staying in Penarth, Sisley finished about six oil paintings of the cliffs and the sea and about 11 paintings of the areas around Rotherslade Bay and Langland Bay when they moved to a hotel in the Gower Peninsula.Īlthough he was a founding member of Impressionism, Alfred Sisley was often ignored, for he did not have the drama and flashiness of Renoir or Monet. On his third trip to Britain in 1897, Sisley finally married his long-time partner, Eugénie Lesouezec, whom he met in 1866. Most of his works depicted calm, serene and beautiful surroundings. According to art historian Anne Poulet, the area, with its gentle landscapes and continuously changing atmosphere suited the talents of Alfred Sisley. In 1880 Sisley and his family moved to Moret-sur-Loing, a small village near the Fontainebleau forest, an area that was a favorite of painters of the Barbizon school. This group of paintings was later described as a “perfect moment of Impressionism” by art historian Kenneth Clark. During his stay, he created close to twenty paintings of the Upper Thames. His first trip to England was in 1874 and he spent a few months in London. Occasional backing from patrons allowed his to take short trips to England. Although he produced plenty of work, he lived in poverty for the remainder of his life as his works did not increase in monetary value. His only means of support came from the sale of his paintings. Alfred Sisley (1839-1899) was one of the leading Impressionist artists of the 19th century and his entire oeuvre almost exclusively consists of landscape paintings. His father’s business went down during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 and his allowance was cut off. The failure continued during his other exhibitions at the Salon. However, his first exhibition was not a critical or financial success. It was only in 1868, when he was already 31 when his paintings were accepted by the Paris Salon. It was good though that Sisley had an allowance from his father, so for a time he was not one of the many starving artists. Thereby Sisley and his group of Impressionist painters had limited opportunities to exhibit and sell their paintings, as the Salon jury continue to reject their work. Of course during that time, academic art was highly favored by the influential Paris Salon jury. Their approach to painting was considered innovative at that time, for it resulted in more colorful and broadly painted works that were new to the eyes of the viewing public. They went out to paint landscapes en plein air so they could capture the sunlight’s transient effects. There Sisley came to know Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet and Frédéric Bazille. He enrolled at the Paris École des Beaux-Arts in the studio of Marc-Charles-Gabriel Gleyre, a Swiss artist. Although he stayed in school for four years, he abandoned his studies and went back home. At the age of 18 he was sent to London to get a degree in business. He very rarely did figure painting, preferring to spend most of his time painting landscapes, unlike other Impressionists such as Pissarro and Renoir.Īlfred Sisley, who was born in Paris on October 30, 1839, had affluent parents. Among the Impressionists he was the most consistent in painting landscapes en plein air. Unlike many of his colleagues, Sisley always struggled financially and prices for his work rose only after his death.Impressionist landscape painter Alfred Sisley was British, although he was born in France and spent most of his life there. Throughout his career, Sisley painted almost exclusively landscapes and stayed faithful to the original Impressionist approach to painting. Sisley exhibited with the Impressionists in 1874, 1876, 1877, and 1882. The painters Camille Corot and Gustave Courbet were important inspirations for Sisley's carefully structured early work, but his style became looser and more colorful under the influence of Renoir, Monet, and Pissarro. His merchant father sent him to London to embark on a business career, but he returned to Paris in 1862 and devoted himself full-time to art. Navigation Top Impressionist Paintings Alfred SisleyĪlfred Sisley (1839-1899) was born in Paris of English parents.
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