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Lot Essay
For much of his life, the Impressionist painter Alfred Sisley lived in the vicinity of the Loing river in France, be it at Moret-sur-Loing, Saint-Mammès or Les Sablons. Painted in 1879, Matin près du Loing is a view of the river, filled with dabbed, gestural brushstrokes which give the picture a sense of the shimmering leaves and surface of the water. The picture is filled with colour, applied in an almost Pointillist manner which adds to the sense of the just-dissipated haze of the morning.
During the course of 1879, Sisley was largely based in Sèvres. This was an important year for the artist, and indeed for the Impressionist movement. It was during 1879 that Sisley, who had suffered financially ever since the collapse of his father's successful business during the Franco-Prussian War at the beginning of the decade, had decided that the route to both more lucrative sales and also acceptance of the Impressionist ethos - so perfectly embodied in Matin près du Loing - was through exhibiting in the official Salon. In deciding this, Sisley effectively excluded himself from the Impressionist group's exhibitions. However, Sisley's hopes appeared misplaced when the Salon turned away his avant garde submissions. He thus found himself in increasingly dire straits, and indeed had to move to different accommodation within Sèvres during the course of the year, yet he continued to paint with great application, as is reflected by the fact that pictures from 1879 belong to museum collections throughout the world including the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, the Kunsthalle, Hamburg and Tate, London.
Matin près du Loing was formerly in the celebrated collection of Potter Palmer, the Chicago store owner and real estate magnate who, with his wife, assembled an impressive range of Impressionist pictures. A large bequest from the collection provided the rich backbone of the celebrated Impressionist collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Potter was an eminent businessman whose involvement with Chicago, including the rebuilding following the Great Fire in 1871, had ramifications which are still apparent to this day, including the increased focus on Lake Michigan. Palmer and his wife Bertha were important early advocates of Impressionism in the United States. Bertha in particular, in part through her friendship with Mary Cassatt and also through the advice of Sarah Hollowell, the art critic, accumulated a wide range of pictures which were displayed in the Palmer House which is still such a landmark in Chicago. Some of the pictures, including one by Sisley, were even loaned to an exhibition at the 1893 Chicago World Fair which the couple were instrumental in organising.
During the course of 1879, Sisley was largely based in Sèvres. This was an important year for the artist, and indeed for the Impressionist movement. It was during 1879 that Sisley, who had suffered financially ever since the collapse of his father's successful business during the Franco-Prussian War at the beginning of the decade, had decided that the route to both more lucrative sales and also acceptance of the Impressionist ethos - so perfectly embodied in Matin près du Loing - was through exhibiting in the official Salon. In deciding this, Sisley effectively excluded himself from the Impressionist group's exhibitions. However, Sisley's hopes appeared misplaced when the Salon turned away his avant garde submissions. He thus found himself in increasingly dire straits, and indeed had to move to different accommodation within Sèvres during the course of the year, yet he continued to paint with great application, as is reflected by the fact that pictures from 1879 belong to museum collections throughout the world including the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, the Kunsthalle, Hamburg and Tate, London.
Matin près du Loing was formerly in the celebrated collection of Potter Palmer, the Chicago store owner and real estate magnate who, with his wife, assembled an impressive range of Impressionist pictures. A large bequest from the collection provided the rich backbone of the celebrated Impressionist collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Potter was an eminent businessman whose involvement with Chicago, including the rebuilding following the Great Fire in 1871, had ramifications which are still apparent to this day, including the increased focus on Lake Michigan. Palmer and his wife Bertha were important early advocates of Impressionism in the United States. Bertha in particular, in part through her friendship with Mary Cassatt and also through the advice of Sarah Hollowell, the art critic, accumulated a wide range of pictures which were displayed in the Palmer House which is still such a landmark in Chicago. Some of the pictures, including one by Sisley, were even loaned to an exhibition at the 1893 Chicago World Fair which the couple were instrumental in organising.