Alfred Sisley

It is estimated that during his forty-year career Sisley produced some 1,500 paintings, the vast majority of them river scenes. This is partly because he spent most of his life beside the Seine and, as a confirmed Impressionist, eagerly painted whatever met his eye. At the same time he had a deep admiration for water, and on his travels he liked to seek out riverbanks. Besides the Seine he painted many pictures of the Loing and the Loire, such as The Loing at Saint-Mammès (pictured), and during his visit to England in 1874 he also painted a series of landscapes of the Thames. Several of these captivating river scenes come from near Hampton Court, as does his famous View of the Thames from Charing Cross Bridge (1874), whose majestic but less characteristic panorama has the bustling centre of London as its background.

From the page of Sand Heaps

In 1866 Sisley met Eugénie Lesouezec, a Parisian model and flower seller, with whom he later shared his life. The couple had two children: Pierre in 1867 and Jeanne the following year. As he was not religious, Sisley saw no reason to marry, a decision that shocked his family. To avoid further scandal, Sisley told only a handful of friends that he and Eugénie were not married, and this unconventional relationship lasted three decades. The couple finally married during a trip to Wales in 1897; it was the third time Sisley had set foot in the land of his ancestors. In Wales he made all his seascapes, some 11 oil paintings of the coast at Penarth near Cardiff. By then both Sisley and his wife were suffering from cancer, and two years later they died within a few months of each other. (Pictured: Renoir, Alfred Sisley and His Wife.)

From the page of The Bridge at Moret-sur-Loing