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Lot Essay
Sisley lived in Sèvres, the famous centre of French porcelain manufacturing, between 1877 and 1880, before settling at Veneux-les-Sablons near Moret at the end of 1880. These years were among the most trying of his career. Disappointed with the response to the third Impressionist group exhibition in 1877, and impatient to see his paintings exposed to a wider public, Sisley submitted entries to the official Salon in 1879. His paintings were rejected and, having contravened the Impressionist group's rule against applying to the Salon, he was unable to join the fourth Impressionist exhibition held that same year. This resulted in the further dwindling of his sales.
Despite these difficult circumstances, and Emile Zola's accusation stated in June of 1880 that the Impressionists had not created any works that would stand the test of time, Sisley never compromised his commitment to plein air painting and the Impressionist technique that he had developed over the course of the previous decade. With all the dogged insistence and optimistic outlook of one convinced of his chosen path, Sisley continued to push the envelope of his technique, further developing it in the direction of greater improvisation and diversity of means. There was little hope that these methods would meet with any more success than previously, except for his belief that a growing number of sympathetic viewers would come to appreciate the truthfulness and authenticity of his view of nature.
Cour de ferme près de Moret, soleil de juillet was first owned by Dr George Viau (1855-1922), a dentist, who, like Camondo, Antonin Personnaz and Etienne Moreau-Nélaton amassed a great collection at the turn of the century. He was a friend and collector of Pissarro, Renoir and Sisley and a patron of the young Vuillard. The present work was included Viau's sale in 1907 at the Galerie Durand-Ruel (fig. 1).
Despite these difficult circumstances, and Emile Zola's accusation stated in June of 1880 that the Impressionists had not created any works that would stand the test of time, Sisley never compromised his commitment to plein air painting and the Impressionist technique that he had developed over the course of the previous decade. With all the dogged insistence and optimistic outlook of one convinced of his chosen path, Sisley continued to push the envelope of his technique, further developing it in the direction of greater improvisation and diversity of means. There was little hope that these methods would meet with any more success than previously, except for his belief that a growing number of sympathetic viewers would come to appreciate the truthfulness and authenticity of his view of nature.
Cour de ferme près de Moret, soleil de juillet was first owned by Dr George Viau (1855-1922), a dentist, who, like Camondo, Antonin Personnaz and Etienne Moreau-Nélaton amassed a great collection at the turn of the century. He was a friend and collector of Pissarro, Renoir and Sisley and a patron of the young Vuillard. The present work was included Viau's sale in 1907 at the Galerie Durand-Ruel (fig. 1).