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Alfred Sisley

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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ALFRED SISLEY (1840-1899), French landscape painter, was born in Paris in 18 39, of English parents. He studied painting under Gleyre, and was afterwards influenced, first by Corot, and then by the impressionists Monet and Renoir. He worked both in France and in England, and made the Seine, the Loing and the Thames the subjects of many pictures that are remarkable for the subtle appreciation of the most delicate colour effects. Success was not given him during his life, which was one of constant poverty and hard struggle. Purchasers of his pictures were few and far between, although the prices rarely exceeded a few pounds. Only after his death, which occurred at Moret-sur-Loing in 18 99, did his work find appreciation, and at the Viau sale in Paris, in 1907, his small painting of "The Seine at Port-Marly" realized £652, whilst ten other landscapes sold at prices ranging from £200 to £400. He was essentially a colourist who, like Monet, delighted in recording the changing effects of light in the successive hours of the day, and paid very little attention to composition and draughtsmanship. The impressionist exhibition at the Grafton Galleries, London, in 1905, included several characteristic examples of his work. Sisley is also represented at the Luxembourg in the Caillebotte collection.