ALFRED SISLEY

 

ALFRED SISLEY

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SUNDAY feature on ART of Architecture -by Gautam Shah

Alfred Sisley (1839-1899) is typical of Impressionist painters. He preferred to paint outdoors allowing him to capture the essence of natural light and atmosphere. He was in close contact with impressionists like Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Alfred Sisley was born in Paris to British parents, remained most of his life in France, but could not get the French citizenship. Sisley visited the UK several times between 1880 and 1900, where he painted scenes of the British coastline, a topic, which he rarely dealt with while in France.

His early works were darker in tone, but from 1870 he lightened his palette and began to use broken touches and strokes of opposite colours. He liked to draw big, expressive skies and fill up substantial space in the painting. He once said ‘I start my work with skies’. His scenes are of serene landscapes without any type of turbulence.

He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedication to painting landscape en plein air (i.e., outdoors).

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