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:

• Impressionism
• Vincent van Gogh
• Claude Monet