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Les Bords du Loing
Les Bords du Loing

Les Bords du Loing

Artist (Paris, France, 1839 - 1899)
Date1897
Mediumoil on canvas
ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings
DimensionsOverall: Height: 54.5 cm, Width: 65.5 cm
Frame: Height: 72.8 cm, Width: 85.4 cm, Depth: 7.2 cm
AcquisitionPurchased in 1933 with income from the Webster Bequest.
CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0
LocationOn Display - Gallery 10
Object numberABDAG003023
About MeSisley first settled in the area of Moret-sur-Loing in 1880 and for the rest of his life that particular area of France provided him with most of his subject matter. Sisley spent the summer months of 1897 in Cornwall. He returned to his home at Moret-sur-Loing at the beginning of October and this work was painted at that point, just as the colours of the trees were beginning to turn.

Sisley often sought out peaceful places and here the river is completely empty, a fact that allows the towering poplars to be reflected clearly in its still waters. The only sign of human activity is indicated by the figures in the foreground, though the woman appears to have stopped momentarily to take in the view and the horse, cart and carter are also stationary, thus serving to increase the sense of stillness.

Van Gogh once described Sisley as 'the most discreet and gentle of Impressionists' and some years later a critic echoed these thoughts when praising Sisley's 'gentle, unpretentious art'. Nowhere does this quality of gentleness make itself more evident than in these late, entirely resolved paintings of a scene that the artist by then knew intimately.


More About Me
Van Gogh once commented that Sisley was “the most discreet and gentle of Impressionists”.
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