Alfred Sisley was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedication to painting landscape en plein air. He deviated into figure painting only rarely and, unlike Renoir and Pissarro, he found that Impressionism fulfilled his artistic needs.
Recently built, state-of-the-art bridges, emblematic of modernity, appear in a number of Sisley’s paintings of the 1870s and early 1880s. This close-up, dramatically angled view depicts the cast-iron and stone suspension bridge that was constructed in 1844 to connect the village of Villeneuve-la-Garenne with the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. Sisley enlivened the scene by showing holidaymakers on the Seine and along the riverbank. Flat strokes of high-keyed color convey the fleeting effect of sunlight on the water.
Recently built, state-of-the-art bridges, emblematic of modernity, appear in a number of Sisley’s paintings of the 1870s and early 1880s. This close-up, dramatically angled view depicts the cast-iron and stone suspension bridge that was constructed in 1844 to connect the village of Villeneuve-la-Garenne with the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. Sisley enlivened the scene by showing holidaymakers on the Seine and along the riverbank. Flat strokes of high-keyed color convey the fleeting effect of sunlight on the water.
Alfred Sisley - The Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne
