Alfred Sisley's Most Famous Paintings
Art is an expression of thought, emotion, and inner being. It symbolizes our creativity and deepest desires, without it, the world would be robotically habitual.
There are numerous professional artists out there who are capable of creating and depicting mind-blowing works. They are at times influenced by what they see, such as landscapes, and infrastructures, however, their most important tool is their imagination. Alfred Sisley was one of those talented artists.
Who is Alfred Sisley?
Alfred Sisley was an impressionist landscape artist who was born in France to British parents. At the age of 18 he traveled to London to pursue a career in business but left it 4 years later after he realized his true passion was art.
Shorts Facts About Alfred Sisley
- Around 1862, he started studying at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris (National School of Fine Arts).
- Sisley painted most of his work outdoors or "En plein air", instead of painting in a studio, this gave him the opportunity to capture the transient effects of sunlight more effectively, this technique also made his works more colorful.
- Sisley painted about 900 oil paintings, 100 pastels, as well as other drawings.
Alfred Sisley's Top 17 Famous Artworks
- Snow at Louveciennes by Alfred Sisley
- View of the Canal Saint-Martin by Alfred Sisley
- Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne by Alfred Sisley
- The Flood at Port-Marly by Alfred Sisley
- Regatta at Molesey by Alfred Sisley
- The Small Meadows in Spring by Alfred Sisley
- The Bridge at Moret by Alfred Sisley
- The Loing's Canal by Alfred Sisley
- Chemin de la Machine Louveciennes by Alfred Sisley
- The Road from Versailles to Saint-Germain by Alfred Sisley
- Place du Chenil in Marly - Snow Effect by Alfred Sisley
- The Seine at Port-Marly, Piles of Sand by Alfred Sisley
- Allée of Chestnut Trees by Alfred Sisley
- The Banks of the Loing by Alfred Sisley
- Langland Bay by Alfred Sisley
- Rest along the Stream. Edge of the Wood by Alfred Sisley
- Fog - Voisins by Alfred Sisley
Alfred Sisley Artworks
Snow at Louveciennes by Alfred Sisley
Snow at Louveciennes by Alfred Sisley showcases the northern countryside of France during winter. Sisley was attracted to the solitary temperament which the town offered, Louveciennes was perfectly suited because Sisley wanted to capture the sadness and desolation of nature.
In this painting, the snow has just fallen and is still unbroken, with no footprints marking it. It looks like cotton wool or felt. To the left you see tree trunks and to the right a silhouette of a woman walking away with her holding an umbrella. The road leads into a background of houses.
There is a sense of lonely emptiness about the painting. Sisley enjoyed painting snow scenes because it allowed him to study the slight variations in light, and to experiment with various color pallets and shades.
Francois Boucher Most Famous Paintings
View of the Canal Saint-Martin by Alfred Sisley
This landscape painting depicts a stretch of the Canal St Martin near the Bassin de la Villette, in Paris. You can see houses and other buildings overlooking the canal from both sides.
The buildings in the distance, towards the center of the city, are painted lightly similar in style to the clouds. A keen breeze is stirring the water in the canal and the temperature appears to be lowering, despite the sun being out, while overhead, the clouds are scudding across the blue sky.
The lack of leaves on the trees and on the ground suggests the scene is probably set in the early spring. Sisley beautifully captured the moment using basic colors: silvery palette of blues and greys, he thickened the paint for the highlights on the water.
John Everett Millais Most Famous Paintings
Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne by Alfred Sisley
The Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne was at that time considered a state-of-the-art bridge, emblematic of modern bridges. The bridge appeared in numerous of Sisley’s paintings during the late 1870s and early 1880s.
This close-up painting dramatically angled, depicts the cast-iron and stone suspension of the bridge that was beautifully constructed in 1844 to connect the village of Villeneuve-la-Garenne with the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.
Sisley enlivened the scene by depicting people along the riverbank and in their boats enjoying the water. The flat strokes and the colorful colors convey the fleeting effect of sunlight on the water.
Giorgione Most Famous Paintings
The Flood at Port-Marly by Alfred Sisley
The Flood at Port-Marly, a masterpiece of Impressionism, the Rouen painting depicts a wine merchant's house, À St Nicolas, resting on the encroaching floodwaters of the Seine. The house was being used as a landing dock for boats.
As always with Sisley, the composition is tightly structured with horizontal and vertical elements framing different parts of the landscape. The building's mass is proportionately depicted to the left of the composition with the flat area of water stretching from the foreground to the horizon. Giving an in-depth perspective of the scene of which the 17th century Dutch Masters would have been proud.
Famous Paintings By Édouard Manet
Regatta at Molesey by Alfred Sisley
Sisley is depicting the rowing Regatta that is held on the River Thames in England. The event attracts crews from various rowing clubs within the country. The event takes place on the various rivers and canals all around the United Kingdom.
The racing takes place on the 850-meter downstream course that stretches to Platts Eyot. Sisley chose to paint the scene with a wide number of ominous colors, the intricate details of the race have been beautiful captured within the painting. Showcasing his devotion to his craft and his talent for attention to detail.
Top 10 Most Famous Paintings by Thomas Sully
Alfred Sisley Paintings - British Artist - Impressionist Landscape Painter - Slideshow Collection [HD]
The Small Meadows in Spring by Alfred Sisley
Sisley moved from Sèvres to Veneux-Nadon, which is on the outskirts of Moret-sur-Loing, in 1880, and stayed in the city for the next two years during that time he painted The Small Meadows.
The painting depicts a view of a riverside near Veneux. Sisley also painted several other similar pictures during his time in Veneux showcasing different subjects near the river.
Top 10 Most Famous Paintings by Sandro Botticelli
The Bridge at Moret by Alfred Sisley
This painting was completed in 1893 and was exhibited in the Musee d’Orsay. Moret-sur-Loing is a small historical town in the Seine-et-Marne of north-central France and was a source of inspiration for Monet, Renoir, and Sisley.
Sisley died in Moret-sur-Loing at the age of 59, just a few months after the death of his wife.
Top 10 Most Famous Paintings by Henri Matisse
The Loing's Canal by Alfred Sisley
In 1880, there was a sudden change in Sisley's life and in his work. The painter abandoned the city of Seine-et-Oise, where he had lived and worked since 1871, and moved to Seine-et-Marne, where he was to live until his death in 1899.
He settled in Moret-sur-Loing in September 1882, interested by the picturesque nature of this small town, and by its excellent location on the banks of the Loing.
During the last twenty years of his life, Sisley often painted along this river or on the banks of the Seine in the neighboring town of Saint-Mammès. Sisley also composed numerous views of the canal which follows the course of the Loing for about fifty kilometers.
In this painting, the artist present the path of the river from his perspective. He positioned himself at a point where the canal starts to curve, and he could see the opposite bank through a screen of bare trees.
Top 10 Most Famous Paintings by Andy Warhol
Chemin de la Machine Louveciennes by Alfred Sisley
A road disappearing into the distance is one of Sisley's favorite landscape painting techniques. His style often links the foreground with the background and helps pierce the space in between, resulting in very successful depth perspective effects. Here, the illusion of three-dimensional space is spectacularly displayed thanks to the road stretching into the far distance.
The row of trees gives rhythm to the composition and accentuates the impression of depth, and an interplay of lines is achieved through the vertical trunks, and echoed by the horizontal lines of the shadows.
The slight rise in the road is used to create a vanishing point slightly off-center, and to obtain a plunging view over the sunlit background. This style allows the painter to organize the space in his landscape, while maintaining the tiers of the different planes. Finally, Sisley humanizes his landscape by introducing a few small figures in the style of Johan Jongkind.
Top 10 Most Famous Paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe
The Road from Versailles to Saint-Germain by Alfred Sisley
Sisley painted The Road with bright colors and displayed the glorious golden light of a summer's day, showcasing the flickering trees and the movement of the long grass. He put in a slight bend in the road, with tiny drawn figures appears amid the lush green trees on the left. To the right, the landscape opens out with a view of a vineyard on a distant hill.
He painted this landscape work using the Plein-air style. He was somewhere near the road on the way from Versailles to Saint-Germain. The broken strokes of the brilliant colors and the impressionistic style, leads the work to appear to be a rough sketch, but Sisley judged it complete and presented it as beautiful finished work.
Top 10 Most Famous Paintings by John William Waterhouse
Place du Chenil in Marly - Snow Effect by Alfred Sisley
Sisley had moved to Marly in 1875. The winters of 1875-1876 were exceptionally cold, with temperatures below zero. This is a beautiful winter landscape painting of the winter time in Marly. The painting is sprouting with life, depicting a number of individuals out in the snow enjoying themselves, as well as showcasing the trees and the homes in the background carrying the heavy snow. Sisley painted several snowy works of Marly and the nearby city of Louveciennes. Sisley enjoyed painting snowy scenes.
Top 7 Most Famous Paintings by Frederick Carl Frieseke
The Seine at Port-Marly, Piles of Sand by Alfred Sisley
Sisley lived at Marly-le-Roi from 1875 to 1878, this landscape painting depicts the river workers dredging and hauling sand from the water.
Generally, the Impressionists showed the Seine River as a place of weekend leisure for Parisians. Painting the citizens of Pairs boating and dining near the river. However, Sisley showcased the river during the workweek, along with some of the men who depended on the resources the river to make a living.
Top 7 Most Famous Paintings by Eugene-Louis Boudin
Allée of Chestnut Trees by Alfred Sisley
While residing in Sèvres with his wife and children, Sisley painted this point of view of the Seine river. Depicting a curved pathway along the river lined with beautiful chestnut trees in full bloom. The pathway shows the bend in the Seine river, giving the viewer access across the river channel. The weather is pleasant, the sky a pale blue, and the grass bends softly in the wind.
Unlike other Impressionists who returned to their studios in their later careers, Sisley remained to paint outdoors, even at times painting from his sketches rendered in the countryside.
Top 15 Most Famous Paintings by Paul Cézanne
The Banks of the Loing by Alfred Sisley
During the 1880s he painted multiple views of the village of Saint-Mammès located at the confluence of the Seine and Loing rivers.
At the time he executed this work he lived in the neighboring village of Moret-sur-Loing. He even wrote to Monet in 1881, Sisley described the region:
"It’s not a bad part of the world, rather a chocolate-box landscape. When I arrived there were many fine things to do, but they have worked on the canal, cut the trees, made quays, aligned the banks."
Top 10 Most Famous Paintings by John Singleton Copley
Langland Bay by Alfred Sisley
This painting was probably painted from a window of the Osborne Hotel, overlooking the Bay. In a letter sent to his friend Adolph Tavernier, on August 18th, 1897, it describes what Sisley saw, he wrote:
I have been here for five days. The countryside is totally different from Penarth, it's more hilly, and larger in scale. The sea is magnificent and the subjects are interesting. But you have to fight hard against the wind, which reigns supreme here. I had not experienced this nuisance before, but I am getting used to coping with it and have already discovered the knack. I think I shall wait till the bad weather drives me away because there is plenty to do here.
Top 10 Most Famous Paintings by Thomas Cole
Rest along the Stream. Edge of the Wood by Alfred Sisley
There is not much known about this particular painting, only that it depicts a lady resting by the river bank seemingly after a long day of hard work, it was painted in 1878.
Top 10 Most Famous Paintings by Felix Vallotton
Fog - Voisins by Alfred Sisley
Alfred Sisley settled at Voisins, a village near Louveciennes in Seineet-Oise, in 1871. That is presumably where he painted this the Fog.
You can see a fence in the background, foliage on the left, a tree with twisted branches on the right beneath a crouching woman who seems to be picking flowers. Nonetheless the subject of the painting is the silvery mist that blurs the shapes and merges into the background with a bluish-grey tone.
Alfred Sisley Paintings For Sale!
- The Seine at Argenteuil by Alfred Sisley
- Street in Moret by Alfred Sisley
- A Path in Louveciennes by Alfred Sisley
Check out these Famous Artists who have shaped the art world!
If you like this article, please share it with others, so perhaps they can also enjoy it and get value from it. Any of the artwork purchased on ATX Fine Arts accommodates me as an artist/ writer along with helping the site grow organically, thank you.
