1875
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
Dominant colour
The Seine at Port-Marly, Piles of Sand is a 1875 oil by Alfred Sisley, a Impressionism work, depicting Seine, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
The painting shows a river scene with workers dredging sand. This is an unusual scene because most Impressionist paintings show people having fun on the river. Sisley painted the river on a workday, showing men doing their jobs, which is a different view of the river. You can learn more about this style by looking at the work of artist Alfred Sisley.
Of all the landscapes Alfred Sisley painted in and around Marly-le-Roi, where he lived from 1875 to 1878, this scene of workers dredging sand to facilitate barge traffic is perhaps the most original. Generally, the Impressionists showed the Seine River as a place of weekend leisure for Parisians, painting activities such as boating, yachting, promenading, and dining. Sisley depicted the river during the workweek, along with some of the men who depended on it for their livelihood.
Georges Viau, Paris; his sale, Galeries Durand-Ruel, March 4, 1907, lot 74 (ill.), as La Seine à Port-Marly, 1875; bought in by Durand-Ruel [acc. to London 1992]. Georges Bernheim, Paris, April 1920 [acc. to archival Registrar card]; Martin A. Ryerson (died 1932), Chicago, June 11, 1920 [acc. to Ryerson purchase book; copy in curatorial object file]; bequeathed to the Art Institute, 1933.
Paris, Galeries Georges Petit, A. Sisley, February 1897, cat. 19. Paris, Exposition Centennale de L’Art Français, 1800-1889, 1900, cat. 614, as La Seine à Port-Marly, 1875, appartient à M. George Viau. Paris, Georges Petit, Exposition d’oeuvres d’Alfred Sisley, May 7-June 1917, cat. 64. The Art Institute of Chicago, A Century in Progress, Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, June 1–November 1, 1933, cat. 302, as Sand Heaps, 1875. The Art Institute of Chicago, A Century in Progress, Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, June 1–November 1, 1933, cat. 262. Park Forest, Ill, Exhibition, March…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Alfred Sisley (; French: ; 30 October 1839–29 January 1899) was a French-Born British Impressionist landscape painter who was born to British parents, but spent most of his life in France.
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