{"product_id":"le-lavoir-de-billancourt-by-alfred-sisley","title":"Le lavoir de Billancourt by Alfred Sisley","description":"Alfred Sisley \u003cbr\u003e 1839-1899 | British \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cem\u003eLe lavoir de Billancourt\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Signed “Sisley” (lower left) \u003cbr\u003e Oil on canvas \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A master of the landscape, Alfred Sisley is one of the founders of the French Impressionist style, and his works are counted alongside Monet and Renoir for their magnificent interpretations of the natural world. This stunning view of the Seine, \u003cem\u003eLe lavoir de Billancourt\u003c\/em\u003e, was painted during the artist's golden period and captures the light, atmosphere and immediacy that have made Sisley so prized. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e One of Impressionism's purest landscape painters, Sisley devoted himself almost entirely to working directly before nature. After the upheaval of the Franco-Prussian War and the Siege of Paris, he moved with his family west of the city. There, along the winding Seine valley, he found the landscape that would define his career—villages, river bends, bridges, working towns and open skies, all transformed by season, weather and time of day. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The artist’s devotion to this place is immediately felt in \u003cem\u003eLe lavoir de Billancourt\u003c\/em\u003e. The river glistens with reflected light, while the soft sky, airy brushwork and delicate tonal harmonies give the landscape a remarkable sense of freshness and calm. At the center of the composition is a washing house, where locals paid a small fee to wash clothes directly in the Seine. In Sisley’s hands, this humble structure is absorbed into the rhythm of river, sky and shore, brilliantly transformed into a scene of pure splendor. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sisley was born in Paris to affluent English parents, who supported him financially until the age of 31 when his father lost his merchant trading company. His early years of financial comfort allowed Sisley to practice his art without concern. In 1860, he studied with Monet, Renoir and Bazille in the atelier of Marc-Charles Gabriel Gleyre. It was here that he learned the technique of painting \u003cem\u003een plein air\u003c\/em\u003e to better capture the effects of light in nature. His serene views of the Seine, Loing and Île-de-France helped define the visual language of Impressionism, and his works can now be found in major museums worldwide, including the Musée d’Orsay, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery in London, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This work is accompanied by its certificate of authenticity from the Comité Alfred Sisley and will be included in the forthcoming new edition of the catalogue raisonné being prepared by Galerie Brame \u0026amp; Lorenceau. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Painted 1879 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Canvas: 19 1\/4” high x 25 1\/2” wide (62.9 x 76.8 cm)\u003cbr\u003e Framed: 30 1\/4” high x 37” wide x 4” deep (76.8 x 94 x 10.2 cm) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Provenance:\u003cbr\u003e Henri Poidatz, Paris\u003cbr\u003e Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, April 27, 1900, lot 79\u003cbr\u003e Georges Petit, acquired at the above sale\u003cbr\u003e Sale: Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, March 4-5, 1921, lot 113\u003cbr\u003e Comte de Lanscay, Paris\u003cbr\u003e Hôtel Drouot, Paris, April 6, 1922, lot 16\u003cbr\u003e Eugène Blot, Paris, acquired at the above sale\u003cbr\u003e Dr. Arthur Charpentier, Paris\u003cbr\u003e Private Collection, Switzerland, acquired c. 1950\u003cbr\u003e Private Collection, by descent from the above\u003cbr\u003e Private Collection, Europe\u003cbr\u003e Private Collection, London \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Literature:\u003cbr\u003e Maximilien Gauthier, \"Hommage à Sisley,\" in L'Art vivant, 1933, no. 170, p. 116 (illustrated)\u003cbr\u003e François Daulte, Alfred Sisley, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Paris, 1959, no. 315 (illustrated)\u003cbr\u003e Jacques Lassaigne \u0026amp; Sylvie Gache-Patin, Sisley, Paris, 1982, p. 31 (illustrated)\u003cbr\u003e Mary Anne Stevens, ed., Alfred Sisley, London, 1992, p. 154\u003cbr\u003e Sylvie Brame \u0026amp; François Lorenceau, Alfred Sisley: Catalogue Critique des Peintures et des Pastels, Paris, 2021, p. 155, 488 (illustrated) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Exhibited:\u003cbr\u003e Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, Alfred Sisley, 1917, no. 83\u003cbr\u003e Paris, Durand-Ruel, Tableaux de Sisley, 1930, no. 23\u003cbr\u003e Paris, Galerie d'Art Braun, Sisley, 1933, no. 13\u003cbr\u003e Berne, Kunstmuseum, Alfred Sisley, 1958, no. 38\u003cbr\u003e Paris, Musée du Petit-Palais, De Géricault à Matisse, Chefs-d'oeuvre des collections suisses, 1959, no. 126\u003cbr\u003e Schaffhausen, Museum Zu Allerheiligen, Die Welt des Impressionnismus, 1963, no. 125\u003cbr\u003e Minneapolis, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Past Rediscovered: French Painting 1800-1900, 1969\u003cbr\u003e Greenwich, CT, The Bruce Museum, Alfred Sisley: Impressionist Master, 21st January - 21st May 2017, illustrated in color in the exhibition catalogue p. 134\u003cbr\u003e Aix-en-Provence, Caumont Centre d'Art, Sisley l'impressioniste, June - October 2017, illustrated in color in the exhibition catalogue p. 134","brand":"M.S. Rau","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45155874668679,"sku":"32-2690","price":1985000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0083\/2471\/0466\/files\/32-2690_1.png?v=1783524102","url":"https:\/\/rauantiques.com\/products\/le-lavoir-de-billancourt-by-alfred-sisley","provider":"M.S. Rau","version":"1.0","type":"link"}