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Lot Essay
At the time when he painted Le Loing à Saint-Mammès in 1884, Sisley had recently moved to the region, settling at Veneux-Nadon, south of Fontainebleau. The confluence of the Seine and the Loing in that area fascinated the painter, who would return to Saint-Mammès several times in order to paint its banks and river views. Sisley’s move to the Fontainebleau region may have brought back memories from the beginning of the artist’s career: it was there that he had begun to paint in the early 1860s, together with Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Frédéric Bazille.
Throughout the 1880s, Sisley continued to explore the area, developing his technique. In his works, he explored various types of brushstrokes, specifically changing his touch in order to capture a mood or a particular element of the landscape. Executed in 1884, Le Loing à Saint-Mammès already carries a prefiguration of this development in Sisley’s art. In its subject and technique, the present work is a testimony to the artistic plenitude Sisley found near Fontainebleau. As critic and historian Gustave Geffroy wrote: “[Sisley] sought to express the harmonies that prevail, in all weather of woodlands; towns and villages glimpsed through the trees; old buildings swamped in greenery; winter morning sunlight; summer afternoons. He had a delicate way of conveying the effects of foliage” ("Sisley," Les Cahiers d'Aujourd'hui, Paris, 1923).
Painted on a magnificent sun-dappled afternoon, the present work is a superb exploration of the relationship between land and sky. The vigorous brushwork, intensity and wide range of color differ greatly from the tonal quality of Sisley's paintings from the early 1870s. "It is fair to describe the years 1875-1879 as transitional...as Sisley was adjusting his style and reflecting on the subject matter of his painting in a highly creative way. The results of this adjustment were to be given full expression during the 1880s and 1890s. In a very real sense, Sisley was at a turning point during the years at Marly and Sèvres" (Alfred Sisley, exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1992, pp. 150-151).
Throughout the 1880s, Sisley continued to explore the area, developing his technique. In his works, he explored various types of brushstrokes, specifically changing his touch in order to capture a mood or a particular element of the landscape. Executed in 1884, Le Loing à Saint-Mammès already carries a prefiguration of this development in Sisley’s art. In its subject and technique, the present work is a testimony to the artistic plenitude Sisley found near Fontainebleau. As critic and historian Gustave Geffroy wrote: “[Sisley] sought to express the harmonies that prevail, in all weather of woodlands; towns and villages glimpsed through the trees; old buildings swamped in greenery; winter morning sunlight; summer afternoons. He had a delicate way of conveying the effects of foliage” ("Sisley," Les Cahiers d'Aujourd'hui, Paris, 1923).
Painted on a magnificent sun-dappled afternoon, the present work is a superb exploration of the relationship between land and sky. The vigorous brushwork, intensity and wide range of color differ greatly from the tonal quality of Sisley's paintings from the early 1870s. "It is fair to describe the years 1875-1879 as transitional...as Sisley was adjusting his style and reflecting on the subject matter of his painting in a highly creative way. The results of this adjustment were to be given full expression during the 1880s and 1890s. In a very real sense, Sisley was at a turning point during the years at Marly and Sèvres" (Alfred Sisley, exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1992, pp. 150-151).