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| Alfred Sisley |
| 1839-1899 |
| European Artist |
| Sisley was born in Paris, France into the family of a well-to-do English businessman. Between 1857 and 1861 he lived in London, preparing for a career in commerce. In 1862, having decided to become a painter, he entered the Atelier Gleyre in Paris and there met Monet, Renoir and Bazille. During the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune in the early 1870s, Sisley fled to London. The war caused him a severe reversal of fortune: most of his paintings were either lost or destroyed, and his father lost his fortune. Reduced to extreme poverty, Sisley had to support himself and his family through modest sales of his work. Not one for self-promotion, he never gained the recognition he deserved. Back in Paris, Sisley exhibited at the Impressionist exhibitions in 1874, 1876, 1877, and 1882. A pure landscape painter unconcerned with the challenge of history painting, he celebrated the intimate qualities of the places he lived in, exploring the effects of changing light and weather and mapping scenes from a variety of viewpoints in different seasons. |
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