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ALFRED SISLEY (1839-1899)

ARTIST BIO INQUIRE
 
<div>Alfred Sisley’s <em>Le Lavoir de Billancourt</em> (1879) is a superb example of the artist’s lifelong devotion to painting directly before nature, and to the quiet drama of landscape in flux. Often described as the “purest” plein air painter of the Impressionist circle, Sisley maintained an almost exclusive relationship with landscape, attending to the subtlest changes of season, weather, and time of day. His river scenes in particular have long been compared to Monet’s for their sensitivity to water—its shifting reflections, softened edges, and the way light dissolves form into atmosphere. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Painted along the Seine at Billancourt—an industrial town west of Paris—this work belongs to the sequence of views Sisley produced after the upheavals of 1871, when he moved his family first to Louveciennes and later to nearby Marly-le-Roi. The Seine valley offered him an ever-renewing motif: looping river bends, villages threaded along the banks, and a landscape marked by both history and modern life. Here, the floating washing house (a lavoir) sits low on the water, a practical structure where locals could wash clothes directly in the river for a small fee. Sisley transforms this everyday subject into an evocation of lived place, where human activity is integrated seamlessly into the broader rhythms of sky and current. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>The 1870s are widely recognized as Sisley’s “golden period”—when his work speaks in a distinctly personal voice rather than under the overt influence of Corot, Courbet, or even early Monet. After ceasing to exhibit at the Salon after 1877, his compositions grew more complex and less dependent on traditional recession and linear perspective, shifting instead toward interlocking patterns and the expressive energy of his brushwork. In<em> Le Lavoir de Billancourt</em>, layers of pigment are built up in quick, multidirectional strokes, creating a richly textured surface saturated with color and air. This heightened spontaneity aligns with contemporary praise for Sisley’s ability to seize passing moments—clouds, breeze, and trembling foliage—so that space and light feel inseparable, and the scene remains vibrantly in motion. The painting is recorded in the François Dault<em> Alfred Sisley: catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint</em> (1959) as no. 315. </div>
<div>Alfred Sisley’s <em>Le Lavoir de Billancourt</em> (1879) is a superb example of the artist’s lifelong devotion to painting directly before nature, and to the quiet drama of landscape in flux. Often described as the “purest” plein air painter of the Impressionist circle, Sisley maintained an almost exclusive relationship with landscape, attending to the subtlest changes of season, weather, and time of day. His river scenes in particular have long been compared to Monet’s for their sensitivity to water—its shifting reflections, softened edges, and the way light dissolves form into atmosphere. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Painted along the Seine at Billancourt—an industrial town west of Paris—this work belongs to the sequence of views Sisley produced after the upheavals of 1871, when he moved his family first to Louveciennes and later to nearby Marly-le-Roi. The Seine valley offered him an ever-renewing motif: looping river bends, villages threaded along the banks, and a landscape marked by both history and modern life. Here, the floating washing house (a lavoir) sits low on the water, a practical structure where locals could wash clothes directly in the river for a small fee. Sisley transforms this everyday subject into an evocation of lived place, where human activity is integrated seamlessly into the broader rhythms of sky and current. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>The 1870s are widely recognized as Sisley’s “golden period”—when his work speaks in a distinctly personal voice rather than under the overt influence of Corot, Courbet, or even early Monet. After ceasing to exhibit at the Salon after 1877, his compositions grew more complex and less dependent on traditional recession and linear perspective, shifting instead toward interlocking patterns and the expressive energy of his brushwork. In<em> Le Lavoir de Billancourt</em>, layers of pigment are built up in quick, multidirectional strokes, creating a richly textured surface saturated with color and air. This heightened spontaneity aligns with contemporary praise for Sisley’s ability to seize passing moments—clouds, breeze, and trembling foliage—so that space and light feel inseparable, and the scene remains vibrantly in motion. The painting is recorded in the François Dault<em> Alfred Sisley: catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint</em> (1959) as no. 315. </div> <div>Alfred Sisley’s <em>Le Lavoir de Billancourt</em> (1879) is a superb example of the artist’s lifelong devotion to painting directly before nature, and to the quiet drama of landscape in flux. Often described as the “purest” plein air painter of the Impressionist circle, Sisley maintained an almost exclusive relationship with landscape, attending to the subtlest changes of season, weather, and time of day. His river scenes in particular have long been compared to Monet’s for their sensitivity to water—its shifting reflections, softened edges, and the way light dissolves form into atmosphere. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Painted along the Seine at Billancourt—an industrial town west of Paris—this work belongs to the sequence of views Sisley produced after the upheavals of 1871, when he moved his family first to Louveciennes and later to nearby Marly-le-Roi. The Seine valley offered him an ever-renewing motif: looping river bends, villages threaded along the banks, and a landscape marked by both history and modern life. Here, the floating washing house (a lavoir) sits low on the water, a practical structure where locals could wash clothes directly in the river for a small fee. Sisley transforms this everyday subject into an evocation of lived place, where human activity is integrated seamlessly into the broader rhythms of sky and current. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>The 1870s are widely recognized as Sisley’s “golden period”—when his work speaks in a distinctly personal voice rather than under the overt influence of Corot, Courbet, or even early Monet. After ceasing to exhibit at the Salon after 1877, his compositions grew more complex and less dependent on traditional recession and linear perspective, shifting instead toward interlocking patterns and the expressive energy of his brushwork. In<em> Le Lavoir de Billancourt</em>, layers of pigment are built up in quick, multidirectional strokes, creating a richly textured surface saturated with color and air. This heightened spontaneity aligns with contemporary praise for Sisley’s ability to seize passing moments—clouds, breeze, and trembling foliage—so that space and light feel inseparable, and the scene remains vibrantly in motion. The painting is recorded in the François Dault<em> Alfred Sisley: catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint</em> (1959) as no. 315. </div> <div>Alfred Sisley’s <em>Le Lavoir de Billancourt</em> (1879) is a superb example of the artist’s lifelong devotion to painting directly before nature, and to the quiet drama of landscape in flux. Often described as the “purest” plein air painter of the Impressionist circle, Sisley maintained an almost exclusive relationship with landscape, attending to the subtlest changes of season, weather, and time of day. His river scenes in particular have long been compared to Monet’s for their sensitivity to water—its shifting reflections, softened edges, and the way light dissolves form into atmosphere. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Painted along the Seine at Billancourt—an industrial town west of Paris—this work belongs to the sequence of views Sisley produced after the upheavals of 1871, when he moved his family first to Louveciennes and later to nearby Marly-le-Roi. The Seine valley offered him an ever-renewing motif: looping river bends, villages threaded along the banks, and a landscape marked by both history and modern life. Here, the floating washing house (a lavoir) sits low on the water, a practical structure where locals could wash clothes directly in the river for a small fee. Sisley transforms this everyday subject into an evocation of lived place, where human activity is integrated seamlessly into the broader rhythms of sky and current. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>The 1870s are widely recognized as Sisley’s “golden period”—when his work speaks in a distinctly personal voice rather than under the overt influence of Corot, Courbet, or even early Monet. After ceasing to exhibit at the Salon after 1877, his compositions grew more complex and less dependent on traditional recession and linear perspective, shifting instead toward interlocking patterns and the expressive energy of his brushwork. In<em> Le Lavoir de Billancourt</em>, layers of pigment are built up in quick, multidirectional strokes, creating a richly textured surface saturated with color and air. This heightened spontaneity aligns with contemporary praise for Sisley’s ability to seize passing moments—clouds, breeze, and trembling foliage—so that space and light feel inseparable, and the scene remains vibrantly in motion. The painting is recorded in the François Dault<em> Alfred Sisley: catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint</em> (1959) as no. 315. </div> <div>Alfred Sisley’s <em>Le Lavoir de Billancourt</em> (1879) is a superb example of the artist’s lifelong devotion to painting directly before nature, and to the quiet drama of landscape in flux. Often described as the “purest” plein air painter of the Impressionist circle, Sisley maintained an almost exclusive relationship with landscape, attending to the subtlest changes of season, weather, and time of day. His river scenes in particular have long been compared to Monet’s for their sensitivity to water—its shifting reflections, softened edges, and the way light dissolves form into atmosphere. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Painted along the Seine at Billancourt—an industrial town west of Paris—this work belongs to the sequence of views Sisley produced after the upheavals of 1871, when he moved his family first to Louveciennes and later to nearby Marly-le-Roi. The Seine valley offered him an ever-renewing motif: looping river bends, villages threaded along the banks, and a landscape marked by both history and modern life. Here, the floating washing house (a lavoir) sits low on the water, a practical structure where locals could wash clothes directly in the river for a small fee. Sisley transforms this everyday subject into an evocation of lived place, where human activity is integrated seamlessly into the broader rhythms of sky and current. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>The 1870s are widely recognized as Sisley’s “golden period”—when his work speaks in a distinctly personal voice rather than under the overt influence of Corot, Courbet, or even early Monet. After ceasing to exhibit at the Salon after 1877, his compositions grew more complex and less dependent on traditional recession and linear perspective, shifting instead toward interlocking patterns and the expressive energy of his brushwork. In<em> Le Lavoir de Billancourt</em>, layers of pigment are built up in quick, multidirectional strokes, creating a richly textured surface saturated with color and air. This heightened spontaneity aligns with contemporary praise for Sisley’s ability to seize passing moments—clouds, breeze, and trembling foliage—so that space and light feel inseparable, and the scene remains vibrantly in motion. The painting is recorded in the François Dault<em> Alfred Sisley: catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint</em> (1959) as no. 315. </div> <div>Alfred Sisley’s <em>Le Lavoir de Billancourt</em> (1879) is a superb example of the artist’s lifelong devotion to painting directly before nature, and to the quiet drama of landscape in flux. Often described as the “purest” plein air painter of the Impressionist circle, Sisley maintained an almost exclusive relationship with landscape, attending to the subtlest changes of season, weather, and time of day. His river scenes in particular have long been compared to Monet’s for their sensitivity to water—its shifting reflections, softened edges, and the way light dissolves form into atmosphere. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Painted along the Seine at Billancourt—an industrial town west of Paris—this work belongs to the sequence of views Sisley produced after the upheavals of 1871, when he moved his family first to Louveciennes and later to nearby Marly-le-Roi. The Seine valley offered him an ever-renewing motif: looping river bends, villages threaded along the banks, and a landscape marked by both history and modern life. Here, the floating washing house (a lavoir) sits low on the water, a practical structure where locals could wash clothes directly in the river for a small fee. Sisley transforms this everyday subject into an evocation of lived place, where human activity is integrated seamlessly into the broader rhythms of sky and current. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>The 1870s are widely recognized as Sisley’s “golden period”—when his work speaks in a distinctly personal voice rather than under the overt influence of Corot, Courbet, or even early Monet. After ceasing to exhibit at the Salon after 1877, his compositions grew more complex and less dependent on traditional recession and linear perspective, shifting instead toward interlocking patterns and the expressive energy of his brushwork. In<em> Le Lavoir de Billancourt</em>, layers of pigment are built up in quick, multidirectional strokes, creating a richly textured surface saturated with color and air. This heightened spontaneity aligns with contemporary praise for Sisley’s ability to seize passing moments—clouds, breeze, and trembling foliage—so that space and light feel inseparable, and the scene remains vibrantly in motion. The painting is recorded in the François Dault<em> Alfred Sisley: catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint</em> (1959) as no. 315. </div> <div>Alfred Sisley’s <em>Le Lavoir de Billancourt</em> (1879) is a superb example of the artist’s lifelong devotion to painting directly before nature, and to the quiet drama of landscape in flux. Often described as the “purest” plein air painter of the Impressionist circle, Sisley maintained an almost exclusive relationship with landscape, attending to the subtlest changes of season, weather, and time of day. His river scenes in particular have long been compared to Monet’s for their sensitivity to water—its shifting reflections, softened edges, and the way light dissolves form into atmosphere. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Painted along the Seine at Billancourt—an industrial town west of Paris—this work belongs to the sequence of views Sisley produced after the upheavals of 1871, when he moved his family first to Louveciennes and later to nearby Marly-le-Roi. The Seine valley offered him an ever-renewing motif: looping river bends, villages threaded along the banks, and a landscape marked by both history and modern life. Here, the floating washing house (a lavoir) sits low on the water, a practical structure where locals could wash clothes directly in the river for a small fee. Sisley transforms this everyday subject into an evocation of lived place, where human activity is integrated seamlessly into the broader rhythms of sky and current. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>The 1870s are widely recognized as Sisley’s “golden period”—when his work speaks in a distinctly personal voice rather than under the overt influence of Corot, Courbet, or even early Monet. After ceasing to exhibit at the Salon after 1877, his compositions grew more complex and less dependent on traditional recession and linear perspective, shifting instead toward interlocking patterns and the expressive energy of his brushwork. In<em> Le Lavoir de Billancourt</em>, layers of pigment are built up in quick, multidirectional strokes, creating a richly textured surface saturated with color and air. This heightened spontaneity aligns with contemporary praise for Sisley’s ability to seize passing moments—clouds, breeze, and trembling foliage—so that space and light feel inseparable, and the scene remains vibrantly in motion. The painting is recorded in the François Dault<em> Alfred Sisley: catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint</em> (1959) as no. 315. </div> <div>Alfred Sisley’s <em>Le Lavoir de Billancourt</em> (1879) is a superb example of the artist’s lifelong devotion to painting directly before nature, and to the quiet drama of landscape in flux. Often described as the “purest” plein air painter of the Impressionist circle, Sisley maintained an almost exclusive relationship with landscape, attending to the subtlest changes of season, weather, and time of day. His river scenes in particular have long been compared to Monet’s for their sensitivity to water—its shifting reflections, softened edges, and the way light dissolves form into atmosphere. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Painted along the Seine at Billancourt—an industrial town west of Paris—this work belongs to the sequence of views Sisley produced after the upheavals of 1871, when he moved his family first to Louveciennes and later to nearby Marly-le-Roi. The Seine valley offered him an ever-renewing motif: looping river bends, villages threaded along the banks, and a landscape marked by both history and modern life. Here, the floating washing house (a lavoir) sits low on the water, a practical structure where locals could wash clothes directly in the river for a small fee. Sisley transforms this everyday subject into an evocation of lived place, where human activity is integrated seamlessly into the broader rhythms of sky and current. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>The 1870s are widely recognized as Sisley’s “golden period”—when his work speaks in a distinctly personal voice rather than under the overt influence of Corot, Courbet, or even early Monet. After ceasing to exhibit at the Salon after 1877, his compositions grew more complex and less dependent on traditional recession and linear perspective, shifting instead toward interlocking patterns and the expressive energy of his brushwork. In<em> Le Lavoir de Billancourt</em>, layers of pigment are built up in quick, multidirectional strokes, creating a richly textured surface saturated with color and air. This heightened spontaneity aligns with contemporary praise for Sisley’s ability to seize passing moments—clouds, breeze, and trembling foliage—so that space and light feel inseparable, and the scene remains vibrantly in motion. The painting is recorded in the François Dault<em> Alfred Sisley: catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint</em> (1959) as no. 315. </div>
Le Lavoir de Billancourt187920 x 25 5/8 in.(50.8 x 65.09 cm) oil on canvas
Provenance
Henri Poidatz, Paris
Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, April 27, 1900, lot 79
Georges Petit, acquired at the above sale
Sale: Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, March 4-5, 1921, lot 113
Comte de Lanscay, Paris
Hôtel Drouot, Paris, April 6, 1922, lot 16
Eugène Blot, Paris, acquired at the above sale
Dr. Arthur Charpentier, Paris
Private Collection, Switzerland, acquired c. 1950
Private Collection, by descent from the above
Private Collection, Europe
Sotheby's New York, May 6, 2015, lot ...More...250
Private Collection, London, acquired at the above sale
Exhibition
Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, Alfred Sisley, 1917, no. 83
Paris, Durand-Ruel, Tableaux de Sisley, 1930, no. 23
Paris, Galerie d'Art Braun, Sisley, 1933, no. 13
Berne, Kunstmuseum, Alfred Sisley, 1958, no. 38
Paris, Musée du Petit-Palais, De Gericault à Matisse, Chefs-d'oeuvre des collections Suisse, 1959, no. 126
Schaffhausen, Museum Zu Allerheiligen, Die Welt des Impressionnismus, 1963, no. 125
Minneapolis, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Past Rediscovered: French Painting 1800-1900, 1969
 
Literature
Maximilien Gauthier, "Hommage à Sisley," in L'Art vivant, 1933, no. 170, p. 116 (illustrated)
François Daulte, Alfred Sisley, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Paris, 1959, no. 315 (illustrated)
Jacques Lassaigne & Slyvie Gache-Patin, Sisley, Paris, 1982, p. 31 (illustrated)
Mary Anne Stevens, ed., Alfred Sisley, London, 1992, p. 154
Sylvie Brame & François Lorenceau, Alfred Sisley: Catalogue Critique des Peintures et des Pastels, Paris, 2021, p. 155, 488 (illustrated)
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Alfred Sisley’s Le Lavoir de Billancourt (1879) is a superb example of the artist’s lifelong devotion to painting directly before nature, and to the quiet drama of landscape in flux. Often described as the “purest” plein air painter of the Impressionist circle, Sisley maintained an almost exclusive relationship with landscape, attending to the subtlest changes of season, weather, and time of day. His river scenes in particular have long been compared to Monet’s for their sensitivity to water—its shifting reflections, softened edges, and the way light dissolves form into atmosphere.


 


Painted along the Seine at Billancourt—an industrial town west of Paris—this work belongs to the sequence of views Sisley produced after the upheavals of 1871, when he moved his family first to Louveciennes and later to nearby Marly-le-Roi. The Seine valley offered him an ever-renewing motif: looping river bends, villages threaded along the banks, and a landscape marked by both history and modern life. Here, the floating washing house (a lavoir) sits low on the water, a practical structure where locals could wash clothes directly in the river for a small fee. Sisley transforms this everyday subject into an evocation of lived place, where human activity is integrated seamlessly into the broader rhythms of sky and current.


 


The 1870s are widely recognized as Sisley’s “golden period”—when his work speaks in a distinctly personal voice rather than under the overt influence of Corot, Courbet, or even early Monet. After ceasing to exhibit at the Salon after 1877, his compositions grew more complex and less dependent on traditional recession and linear perspective, shifting instead toward interlocking patterns and the expressive energy of his brushwork. In Le Lavoir de Billancourt, layers of pigment are built up in quick, multidirectional strokes, creating a richly textured surface saturated with color and air. This heightened spontaneity aligns with contemporary praise for Sisley’s ability to seize passing moments—clouds, breeze, and trembling foliage—so that space and light feel inseparable, and the scene remains vibrantly in motion. The painting is recorded in the François Dault Alfred Sisley: catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint (1959) as no. 315.
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