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Alfred Sisley did not pursue an artistic career until his early 20s, when he began studying at the École des Beaux-Arts. It was through this school that he met Renoir and Monet, with whom he found great artistic commonality. Painting en plein air was a shared interest of the artists, and a method that would become a hallmark of Sisley’s style. Unlike his peers, who would pivot between figure studies or city scenes, Sisley is primarily associated with bucolic landscapes composed of soft greens and blues punctuated with pops of rich color.
Every picture shows a spot with which the artist has fallen in love.
Born in Paris to affluent British parents.
Meets Renoir and Monet and starts painting en plein air.
Has his first painting accepted at the Paris Salon.
Participates at the first Impressionist exhibition.
Paints The Floods at Marly.
Exhibition of his work mounted by Paul Durand-Ruel at his Paris gallery.
Exhibited in New York, again organized by Durand-Ruel.
Dies in Moret-sur-Loing from throat cancer at the age of 59.
1. Alfred Sisley (detail), 1876, oil on canvas. The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection, 1933.453.
2. Flood at Port-Marly, 1876, oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1985.64.38.
3. The Loing and the Mills of Moret, Snow Effect, 1891, oil on canvas. The Clark Art Institute, Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark, 1946, 1955.545.
4. The Church at Moret in the Evening, 1894, oil on canvas. Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-arts de la Ville de Paris, PPP118.