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Lot Essay
'[Sisley] was indefatigable in his exploration of the Loing, wide and shallow as it passed under the old bridge at Moret, deepening and curving as, joined first by the canal du Loing and, almost immediately afterwards, by the energetic stream of the Orvanne, it flowed towards Saint-Mammès and out into the Seine' (R. Shone, Sisley, London, 1992, p. 144). The present work, along with lot 12, are part of an extended series of views of Saint-Mammès, painted by Sisley from 1881-1889. He chose a stretch of the semi-canalised Loing from the railway viaduct to the point where it joins the Seine. The same group of houses seen in the present work are also visible in another picture painted a little further upstream and looking back up towards the viaduct in the distance (fig. 1).
Sisley employed a more robust technique for many of these pictures than he had previously used. The hot afternoon sun is suggested by the use of saturated primary colours, which has led some art historians to suggest that Sisley was at least partially aware of the developments of the Neo-Impressionists. In the present work he brings the far bank of the Loing closer to the picture plane, and it is noticeable how he builds up the landscape using a variety of different brushstrokes; small, horizontal overlapping dabs for the reflective water, curved, slashing strokes for the trees on the right, and looser, thinner layered strokes for the changeable sky. Despite the intensification of his palette the scene is brilliantly balanced throughout.
Sisley employed a more robust technique for many of these pictures than he had previously used. The hot afternoon sun is suggested by the use of saturated primary colours, which has led some art historians to suggest that Sisley was at least partially aware of the developments of the Neo-Impressionists. In the present work he brings the far bank of the Loing closer to the picture plane, and it is noticeable how he builds up the landscape using a variety of different brushstrokes; small, horizontal overlapping dabs for the reflective water, curved, slashing strokes for the trees on the right, and looser, thinner layered strokes for the changeable sky. Despite the intensification of his palette the scene is brilliantly balanced throughout.