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Sisley Experts
Alfred Sisley
Timeline
Born October 30, 1839 in Paris to affluent English parents.
At age 18, Sisley was sent to London to study business but returned to Paris after four years.
In 1862, Sisley studied at Paris Ecole des Beaux Arts with Swiss artist Marc-Charles-Gabriel Gleyre. There he met fellow painters Sisley, Monet and Bazille where they painted landscapes en plein air (outdoors) focusing on the effects of the sun on the changing landscapes. It was during this time that he created his earliest works including Lane Near a Small Town, painted in 1864.
Lane Near a Small Town, 1864
In 1866 Sisley began a relationship with Eugenie Lesouezec and shortly thereafter had two children; a son, Pierre, in 1867 and daughter, Jeanne in 1869. While formerly given an allowance from his father, the Franco-Prussian War destroyed the family business and after 1870, Sisley’s only source of income was from his paintings, leaving Sisley and his family in poverty.
Avenue of Chesnut Trees, 1867
View of the Thames, Charing Cross Bridge, 1874
Paul Durand-Ruel, an art dealer, began buying Sisley’s work in 1872 and began showing Sisley’s paintings in his galleries on rue Laffitte in Paris and in London at 168 Bond Street.
Also in 1874 Sisley became a founding member of Societe Anonyme Coperative d’artistes-peintures, sculpteurs et graveurs along with Monet, Pissaro, Sisley, Degas and Morisot. The Societe renterd a space in Paris and held their first exhibition in April 15, 1874 where Sisley exhibited five pieces including La Siene a Pote Marly that received critical acclaim.
Six weeks after the closing of the exhibition Sisley travelled to Britain in 1874 and created arguably his most important series of paintings; a series of twenty paintings of the River Thames.
In 1875 Hotel Drouot, an auction house, sold 31 Sisley paintings.
April 1876 Sisley was shown for a send time at Durand-Ruel’s gallery exhibiting 8 paintings and again in 1877 where 17 paintings were included in an exhibition at his rue Laffitte gallery.
Theodore Duret’s pamphlet, Histoire des peintures Impressionists published in 1878 included an entire chapter on Sisley’s works resulting in the sale of 13 paintings at Hotel Drouot.
In 1879 Sisley showed 14 paintings on the premises of magazine publishing house La Vie Moderne.
Due to financial hardships, in 1880 Sisley relinquished the rights to his works to Durant-Ruel in exchange for consistent income. In the same year, with newly consistent income, SIsley moved his family to a small village near Moret-Sur-Loing.
Snow at Veneux Nadon, 1880
In 1883 Duret-Ruel exhibited eight of Sisley’s paintings in Paris and hosted a solo show at his London location. Sisley participated in a group show, Expo de MM Degas, Monet, Pissaro, Sisley and Sisley in Brussels at the Hotel du Grand-Miroir in 1885.
In 1888, Sisley was invited to show his works with Belgian Successionist group Les Vingt.
In 1889 Duret-Ruel introduced Sisley’s work to America in a solo show hosted in New York City titled “Works by Alfred Sisley” that included 28 paintings.
Sisley became a member of Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts where six of his paintings were selected for their initial Salon in fin-de-siecle in France. Sisley was selected to participate in the “new Salon” in 1891, 1892, 1894, 1895 and 1898.
In 1893 Sisley was included in an exhibition, “Paintings by the Impressionists” in Boston. In the same year, Sisley had a one man show at Broussod et Valadon in Paris.
Galerie Georges Petit hosted a Sisley retrospective in February 1897 including 146 paintings and six pastels. Sisley and his longtime partner returned to Britain in August of 1897 where they married in Cardiff. While Sisley stayed at Penarth, he painted six oils of the sea and cliffs before he and his wife moved to Langland Bay in Mid-August. Once in Langland Bay, Sisley painted at least 11 more oil paintings before their return to France in October.
Sisley applied for French citizenship in 1898, but was denied leaving him an English citizen despite spending almost the entirety of his life in France.
In 1898 Durand-Ruel hosted a Sisley exhibition titled Tableaux de Sisley.
Sisley died January 29, 1899 in Moret-Sur-Loing shortly after his wife Eugenie leaving over 900 oil paintings, 100 pastels and countless drawings.
After Sisley’s death in 1899, Galerie Georges Petit hosted a benefit exhibit to raise funds for his surviving children, Pierre and Jeanne.