View of the Canal Saint-Martin Alfred Sisley Buy Art Prints Now
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Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
Published on June 19, 2020 / Updated on October 14, 2023
Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +44 7429 011000

Alfred Sisley was an impressionist landscape painter born in France in October 30th 1839. He was a 19th century painter who found so much pleasure in presenting his landscape pieces in a mixture of different colours such as green, pink and dusty blue.

He knew and was close to some of the greatest artists of the 19th century such as Pierre Auguste Renoir. He drew so many outdoor pieces capturing and presenting each part of nature in such a wonderful way that he takes us back to the time as if we are there when he was working on his pieces. In 1870 he drew his piece View of the Canal Saint Martin using his impression style. It has the following dimensions: 50 by 65cm using oil on canvas medium. It was first exhibited at the Paris salon but it is currently located in Musée d’Orsay. The beauty of canal Saint Martin is perfectly represented together with its landscape and the blue skies revealing how much attention he paid on this art.

Born in a well off family his parents sent him to London in 1857 at the age of 18 to study for a career in business. His passion being in art he abandoned it and returned to Paris four years later in 1861 where he spent most of his life. He studied at the Paris École des Beaux-Arts where he also met other impressionist painters such as Frédéric Bazille, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet and together they worked on outdoor pieces to capture the beautiful effects of Mother Nature. Though their style was new and innovative at the time their work was not well appreciated as expected and they only had few opportunities to show their work at the salon. He received financial aid to sustain himself from his father William Sisley who was in the silk business. Unfortunately, war began in 1870 and his father business began to crumble and the sale of his arts became his main source of finance though it was not doing well at the time.

His style was inspired by the previous artists such as Camille Pissarro and Edouard Manet. He uses his talent in such a unique and impressive way to describe the skies and the atmosphere. He travelled few times to Britain and later he died at the age of 59 in January 1899 of throat cancer and was buried at Moret-sur-Loing Cemetery. His other best work includes:

  • Fish on a plate in 1865–1867.
  • Avenue of Chestnut Trees at La Celle-Saint-Cloud in 1865.
  • View of the Thames Charing Cross Bridge in 1874.
  • The Aqueduct at Marly in 1874.
  • Children Playing in the Fields in 1879.