Lot 156
  • 156

Alfred Sisley

Estimate
300,000 - 500,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Alfred Sisley
  • La Gare de Moret-sur-Loing sous la neige
  • Signed Sisley. (lower center)
  • Pastel on paper
  • 15 1/8 by 21 3/8 in.
  • 38.4 by 54.2 cm

Provenance

André Boivin, Paris 
Durand-Ruel, Paris (acquired by 1944)
Galerie Manuel Schmit, Paris
Acquired from the above 

Condition

Executed on cream wove paper mounted on board at around the extreme perimeter. The board is sound. Colors are bright and fresh and the medium is well preserved. Some minor frame abrasion at the extreme top and bottom edges and a heightened line of white about one inch from left edge running vertically through the sky. This work is in very good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Trains and rail yards preoccupied the first generation of Impressionists. From as early as 1870, when trains first made their way across the French countryside, they were a frequent concern for all these artists, who placed great importance on depicting scenes of modern life rather than the idealized or historical subjects favored by the artists whose works were shown in the Salon.

Sisley uniquely and directly embraced the image of the train, often trailing smoke, as it traversed the region around Moret-Sur-Loing that he depicted so many times, in every possible combination of light and weather conditions. The present work in pastel shows the distant train cars of the railway station in the village of Veneux-Nadon, close to Moret-sur-Loing, adjacent to where Sisley lived. He depicted the train station on numerous occasions, and the Haskell Collection features two different views of the railyard outside the station, each featuring the low, distant horizon and a green gate in the foreground from slightly different perspectives. As Richard Shone writes: "the finest group [of Sisley's pastels] is undoubtedly the series he carried out in early 1888. They are winter and spring views from an upper window of his house at Les Sablons, with deep snow or scintillating sunshine on cold clear days. Most include the sidings and goods-yard of Moret's railway station viewed through several tall bare trees just beyond Sisley's garden wall and gate. Clouds of pink steam dissolve into the sky; tiny figures make their way through the snow. Sisley's raised  viewpoint and linear delicacy again elicit his rapport with Japanese art... Seen in their topographical order, the pastels, of which there are at least eight, give a visual sweep of nearly 180 degrees, unfolding like a fan with the added effect of seasonal changes and transitions of mood" (Richard Shone, Sisley, New York, 1992, p. 153).  Two other examples from this recognizable series of vibrant pastels are held in the collections of the Cincinnati Art Museum and the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (see figs 1 and 2).