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Lot Essay
In 1880, after receiving considerable financial support from Durand-Ruel, Sisley moved to Moret where he stayed for the rest of his life. Sisley wrote enthusiastically to Adolphe Tavernier: "It is at Moret, in this thickly wooded countryside with its tall poplars, the water of the river Loing here, so beautiful, so transparent, so changeable; at Moret my art has undoubtedly developed most... I will not really leave this little place that is so pittoresque" (quoted in R. Shone, Sisley, London, 1992, p. 123).
La prairie et les coteaux de Veneux-Nadon reflects Sisley's skill at rendering the soft colours of the blossoming meadow and the changing skies. So, too, his skill at capturing vibrant reflections in the river recall Monet's most successful landscapes of the period. "He has a similar delicacy of perception, a similar fervour of execution. He is the painter of the great blue rivers curving towards the horizon; of blossoming orchards; of bright hills with red-roofed hamlets scattered about; he is beyond all, the painter of French skies, which he presents with admirable vivacity and facility. He has the feeling for the transparency of the atmosphere." (C. Monclair, exh. cat., Alfred Sisley, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1992, p. 22.)
La prairie et les coteaux de Veneux-Nadon reflects Sisley's skill at rendering the soft colours of the blossoming meadow and the changing skies. So, too, his skill at capturing vibrant reflections in the river recall Monet's most successful landscapes of the period. "He has a similar delicacy of perception, a similar fervour of execution. He is the painter of the great blue rivers curving towards the horizon; of blossoming orchards; of bright hills with red-roofed hamlets scattered about; he is beyond all, the painter of French skies, which he presents with admirable vivacity and facility. He has the feeling for the transparency of the atmosphere." (C. Monclair, exh. cat., Alfred Sisley, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1992, p. 22.)