Autumn: Banks of the Seine near Bougival by Alfred Sisley
Alfred Sisley, whose painting Autumn: Banks of the Seine near Bougival was completed in 1873, was a dedicated plein air Impressionist painter. In Autumn: Banks of the Seine near Bougival, Sisley uses color to convey autumn. The band of trees along the shoreline are ablaze with russet-red leaves. The reflection of this color on the water is only slightly muted, contrasting with the pale blue water that repeats the color of the sky. Jean Prouvaire, a critic who admitted to only modest admiration of Sisley's work, found Autumn: Banks of the Seine near Bougival superior to other landscapes in the exhibition.
Autumn: Banks of the Seine near Bougival by Alfred
Sisley (oil on canvas, 18-1/4x24-5/16) is housed at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. |
Sisley's mastery of landscape technique and allegiance to the plein air movement is evident in many of his Impressionist paintings. On the next page we'll look at a painting that exhibits both of these traits.
For more on Impressionist paintings, artists, and art history, see:
