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Dimensions: measurements 21 1/4 by 25 1/4 in. alternate measurements 54 by 64 cm
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Provenance: Robert Bernheim, Paris
Wildenstein & Co., London (acquired from the above in 1936)
Lady Kroyer Kielberg (acquired from the above in 1944 and sold: Sotheby's, London, December 3, 1975, lot 12)
Piccadilly Gallery, London (acquired at the above sale)
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1975
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Literature: G. Besson, Sisley, Paris, n.d., illustrated pl. 45
E. Fouguerat, "Sisley," Médecines et Peintures, n.d., illustrated p. 9
François Daulte, Alfred Sisley, catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Lausanne, 1959, no. 671, illustrated in a prior state
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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 EUROPEAN COLLECTION
The depictions of the seasons were favorite themes for the Impressionists, who reveled in capturing the changes in the landscape and the quality of light at different times of day. In this depiction from 1888 of Moret, a picturesque town along the Loing river, Sisley paints the landscape as it appears under the bright summer sun. Sisley cherished the beauty and calm of Moret, which provided an important source of inspiration. Richard Shone discussed the appeal of this location and the artist's affinity for painting it: "The fame of Moret rested not so much on what was found inside the town but on the view it presented from across the Loing. Old flour and tanning mills clustered along the bridge; the river, scattered with tiny islands, seemed more like a moat protecting the houses and terraced gardens that, on either side the sturdy Porte de Bourgogne, in turn defended the pinnacled tower of the church. Add to this the tree-lined walks along the river, the continuous sound of water from the weir and the great wheels of the mills, the houseboats and fishermen, and there was, as every guidebook exclaimed, 'a captivating picture', a sight 'worthy of the brush'. These supremely picturesque aspects of Moret left Sisley unabashed. Gathered in one spot were the motifs that had mesmerized him since he began to paint. Here were water, sky, reflections, a busy riverside; the multi-arched bridge was for the artist the last in a long line of such structures going back through Sèvres and St-Cloud and Hampton Court to Argenteuil and Villeneuve-la-Garenne. Here was that conjunction of man-made and natural, the interweaving of foliage and house-fronts between sky and water" (R. Shone, Sisley, London, 1992, p. 159).
