SISLEY, Alfred
(b. 1839, Paris, d. 1899, Moret-sur-Loing)

The Island of Saint-Denis

c. 1872
Oil on canvas, 51 x 65 cm
Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Sisley's work around 1870 showed his interest in the colour impressions of trees and buildings and particularly in the shifting play of light and cloud on a landscape.

In this painting the outline, as used to define the form of an object, is avoided. The material quality is dissolved; nature becomes merely an illusion. The colours of the spectrum define the colour palette; black, for example, is hardly ever used.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.