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PROPERTY FROM AN AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTION

1839-1899
BORDS DU LOING À SAINT-MAMMÈS

measurements
54.6 by 74cm.

alternate measurements
21 1/2 by 29 1/8 in.

Painted in 1885.

signed Sisley and dated 85 (lower right)

oil on canvas

To be included in the new edition of Catalogue raisonné de l'~uvre d'Alfred Sisley by François Daulte being prepared by the Comité Alfred Sisley.

PROVENANCE

Grace Clark, New York
Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York (1947)
William & Edith Mayer Goetz, Los Angeles (acquired by 1949; sale: Christie's, New York, 14th November 1988, lot 12)
Arnold & Anne Gumowitz, New York (purchased at the above sale)
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1996

EXHIBITED

San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. William Goetz, 1959, no. 54, illustrated in the catalogue
Los Angeles, City National Bank, Selected Paintings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. William Goetz, 1967, no. 19, illustrated in the catalogue
London, Royal Academy of Arts; Paris, Musée d'Orsay & Baltimore, The Walters Art Gallery, Alfred Sisley, 1992-93, no. 56, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

LITERATURE

'The Modern House of Mr. and Mrs. William Goetz in Hollywood', in Vogue, 15th April 1949, illustrated in colour p. 95
François Daulte, Alfred Sisley. Catalogue raisonné de l'~uvre peint, Lausanne, 1959, no. 608, illustrated
François Daulte, Sisley - Les Saisons, Paris, 1992, no. 36
Connaissance des Arts, special edition dedicated to Sisley, Paris, 1993, no. 28, illustrated in colour p. 33

NOTE

During the 1880s, Sisley often visited the port of Saint-Mammès, at the confluence of the rivers Seine and Loing, and Bords du Loing à Saint-Mammès is a beautiful depiction of this region. Sisley painted the area on a bright day, with the houses and red rooftops on the far bank reflected on the water surface, and the barges decked across the river. The absence of shadows and the warm tones with which Sisley depicted the vegetation suggest that this work was painted around mid-day, the whole scene bathed in bright sunshine. Influenced by the advancing Neo-Impressionist theories and technique, Sisley used quick brushstrokes and a vibrant palette to create strong, lively colour contrasts.

William R. Johnston wrote about the present work: 'That it is near mid-day during the summer is suggested by the warm hues of the vegetation and by an absence of shadows. The unusually robust technique apparent in this painting confirms the artist's evolving style and increasing strength despite his isolation from colleagues and his financial straits. On the shore in the foreground, reeds and grasses are suggested by curving, slashing strokes superimposed on each other in diagonal and vertical patterns. In contrast, the reflections of the houses and trees on the rippling surface of the river are masterfully indicated by horizontal, overlapping dabs. For the sky, struck by the intense glare of a midday sun, the artist reverted to his customary thin, broadly applied layers. Although employing unusually intense tones in this sunlit scene, Sisley has imparted both unity and harmony to his canvas, counterbalancing the roof colours for example, with touches of red in the clouds, on the prows of the barges and in the reflections on the water. Similarly, the hues of the sky are recalled in the various blues, purples and mauves in the river and in the foreground vegetation' (W. R. Johnston, in Alfred Sisley (exhibition catalogue), op. cit., 1992-93, p. 206).