Alfred Sisley  (French, 1839-1899) 

Alfred Sisley (French, 1839–1899) is among the founders of the Impressionist movement. He was born to British parents in Paris and lived most of his life in France. In 1862, Sisley studied at the École des Beaux-Arts of Paris where he met Frédéric Bazille (French, 1841–1870), Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926), and Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841–1919). Throughout the beginning of his career, Sisley painted with Monet and Renoir, and spent time at the Café Guerbois where the Impressionist style was discussed and developed. Together, the artists painted outdoors, or en plein air, to better capture the effects of light on the environment and the animated skies that characterize Sisley’s paintings. He continued this practice throughout his lifetime, staying within the realm of landscape painting and reflecting sharper forms than some of the other Impressionist artists.

Sisley generally privileged landscapes, featuring signs of civilization in blues, browns, grays, and greens, and generally avoided figures in his paintings. These were often executed at Marly and Saint-Cloud, in the environs of Paris, and when in Britain near Hampton Court by the Thames, or on the Welsh coast. He developed a significant series near Argenteuil, France, around the 1870s, one of which, The Bridge at Argenteuil (1872), was bought by Édouard Manet (French, 1832–1883). Sisley was introduced to the dealer Paul Durand-Ruel by the artist Camille Pissarro (French, 1831–1903), and after his death, his paintings became immensely sought after. In 1890, Sisley was nominated at the Société nationale des Beaux-Arts. His work is part of the collections of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the National Gallery in London, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.