Alfred Sisley

Happy Birthday Alfred Sisley!! In 1839, today, painter Alfred Sisley was born in France. After being sent to England to immerse himself in the English language, he entered Ecole des Beaux-Arts where he met Monet and Renoir. He became a purist Impressionist, painting landscapes. His best-known contribution to the Impressionist movement is his delicate handling of cloud effects. Hoar frost—An Indian Summer displays a frosty fall morning with Impressionistic atmosphere evident. Note the crisp fall morning light reflecting on the frost. The autumn colors, furrowed farmland and figures pulled in from the chill lend to the seasonal feel of the work painted in fall 1874. Sisley was quite determined in the compositional layout of this painting to lead the our eye from the field back to the figures, up to the rigid edge of the building, freeing us finally to lose ourselves in his spectacular sky.