Alfred Sisley was a nineteenth-century English painter. He was a part of the English Impressionism movement, and specialized in landscape paintings. Despite his ethnicity, he was born in France and remained there for most of his life. Many art historians regard Sisley as the only painter of his school who remained truest to Impressionist ideals. Unlike many other Impressionists, Sisley never ventured into portrait or figure painting. Also, unlike other Impressionists, Sisley never reached a point where he felt let down or disillusioned by the movement.

Sisley's English parents were living in Paris at the time of his birth. His father was a silk merchant, and his mother was an accomplished musician. When he reached maturity, his family sent him to London to prepare for a career in business. His father may have wanted to bring his son into the family business. Business held no appeal for the young Sisley, and after only a few years of study he returned to Paris, his parents at last agreeing to assist him in developing a career in art. He studied with some of the biggest names in French art, particularly Impressionist artists. One of the major tenets of Impressionism has to do with working en plein air (in the open air). Rather than sketching and acquiring ideas from the great outdoors and returning to work in a studio, Impressionist artists insisted on bringing canvas and paints outdoors and actually creating the painting on site. A development of the time that made this approach realistic was the advent of pre-mixed paint stored in tubes, which could easily be carried about.

Sisley had the additional advantage of financial support from his family. However, by 1870 that support appears to have ceased due to his father's business failures, and Sisley became progressively poorer. Several years earlier he became involved with a woman named Eugenie Lesouezec. The couple had two children. Unfortunately, Sisley, though well connected in the Paris art world, did not achieve much commercial success until after his death. By 1880, he and his family were compelled to retreat from the expensive cost of living in Paris to a village. A number of art historians agree that, though his financial state was impoverished, life in the country brought out his greatest talents, producing some of his most notable work. Not until 1897 did Sisley and Eugenie officially marry, while traveling in Wales. He died the following year, in the village of Moret-sur-Loing. A few months later, his wife died as well.

Image: Alfred Sisley.