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Dimensions: measurements 21 1/2 by 29 in. alternate measurements 54.6 by 73.7 cm
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Provenance: Durand-Ruel, Paris and New York Duncan Phillips, Washington, D.C. (acquired from the above through Knoedler Gallery on December 22, 1920)Paul Durand-Ruel, New York and Paris (acquired from the above on March 20, 1928 until 1929)Lefevre Gallery (Alex. Reid & Lefevre, Ltd.), LondonDurand-Ruel, ParisGalerie Taménaga, ParisPrivate Collection (sold: Sotheby's, London, June 30, 1987, lot 15)Wilton Antiques (acquired at the above sale and sold: Sotheby's, London, November 28, 1989, lot 23)Private Collection (acquired from the above)Galerie Schmit, ParisAcquired from the above by the present owner in 1999
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Literature: Emmanuel Fougerat, "Sisley," Médecines et Peintures, vol. 69, no. XII, Paris, n.d., illustrated p. 9Gotthard Jedlicka, Sisley, Bern, 1949, illustrated pl. 31 (as dating from 1882)Georges Besson, Sisley, Paris, 1954, illustrated pl. 44François Daulte, Alfred Sisley: Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Lausanne, 1959, no. 657, illustratedRaymond Cogniat, Sisley, New York, 1978, illustrated in color p. 72Jacques Lassaigne and Sylvie Gache-Patin, Sisley, Paris, 1983, no. 198, illustrated in color p. 137Richard Shone, Sisley, New York, 1992, no. 137, illustrated p. 172 (as dating from circa 1888)
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Notes: This painting will be included in the new edition of the Catalogue raisonné of Alfred Sisley by François Daulte now being prepared at Galerie Brame & Lorenceau by the Comité Alfred Sisley.
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, PUERTO RICO
This exquisite view of the small town of Moret-sur-Loing dates from 1887-88 and is one of Sisley's great Impressionist landscapes, created at the height of the artist's career. In Moret-sur-Loing, Temps de pluie, Sisley's vibrant brushwork depicts a specific moment, with broad areas of color in the sky to indicate time of day, and dappled, loose strokes on the street to convey shadow and the reflection of the wet road. We know that it is a light rain rather than a downpour, shown by the hints of blue in the sky, the clarity of the town, and the brightness of the street. It is precisely in these skillful contrasts that Sisley depicts the feeling of a bright rainy moment. Sisley moved to Moret in 1880 and quickly felt inspired by the city which would remain his home until his death in 1899. He wrote of the place in a letter to the critic Adolphe Tavernier: "It is at Moret - in this thickly wooded countryside with its tall poplars, the waters of the river Loing here, so beautiful, so translucent, so changeable; at Moret my art has undoubtedly developed most... I will never really leave this little place that is so picturesque" (Richard Shone, Sisley, New York, 1992, p. 123). During his years at Moret, Sisley produced a series of canvases depicting the same motif at different times of the day. Despite his financial difficulties, there was a demand from both collectors and dealer Durand Ruel for attractive landscapes. Christopher Lloyd wrote of Sisley's paintings of the late 1880s and early 1890s: "All the experience of the previous decades was blended in these canvases which amount to the summation of his output: the paint is richly applied with the impasto more pronounced than in previous works, the brushwork more insistently rhythmical, the execution more rapid, and the color more vibrant" (Christopher Lloyd, "Alfred Sisley and the Purity of Vision," Mary Ann Stevens, ed., Alfred Sisley, New Haven, 1992, p. 24). The present painting was once in the collection of Duncan Phillips (1886-1966), who was one of the first collectors of Impressionist and Modern Art in the United States and the founder of the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C.
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