The Banks of the Oise

1877/1878

Alfred Sisley

Artist, French, 1839 - 1899

A wide river cuts through a loosely painted, sunlit landscape in this almost square painting. Short strokes of baby and sea blue with touches of white create ripples on the surface on the river, which runs from the lower right corner to the left edge of the canvas. The horizon comes about a third of the way up the composition and is lined with low hills painted in tones of cobalt blue and grass green. We are on or slightly over the left bank of the river, which is painted in strokes of pale peach, pink, and green. A white path running along the top of the bank curves away from us. People, painted with loose strokes of topaz and navy blue, walk on the path, and a few touches of gray, tan, and emerald green suggest a woman and child sitting in the grassy bank, near the water. A lavender-blue sail rises just beyond the far curve of the path, and two narrow dark blue objects jut into the water nearby, presumably long rowboats. The far bank is lined with a dense cluster of tall, spear-like, blue-green trees reaching high into a powder-blue sky, which is filled with swirling, thin puffs of white clouds. Some light blue smudges at the river’s edge in the distance suggest low buildings. The artist signed the lower left, “Sisley.”

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 54.3 x 64.7 cm (21 3/8 x 25 1/2 in.)
    framed: 76.5 x 87.1 cm (30 1/8 x 34 5/16 in.)

  • Accession

    1963.10.214

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Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Bernheim-Jeune, Paris). Dilenn, Brussels. (Galerie Jacques Dubourg, Paris); sold 9 June 1926 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York;[1] bequest 1963 to NGA.
[1] Provenance according to Chester Dale papers; copies in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1965

  • The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

Bibliography

1929

  • Dale, Maud. Before Manet to Modigliani from the Chester Dale Collection. New York, 1929: no. 39, repro.

1942

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 56, repro.

1944

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1944: 56, repro.

1953

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1953: 66, repro.

1959

  • Daulte, Francois. Alfred Sisley, catalogue raisonne de l'oeuvre peint. Lausanne: Editions Durand-Ruel, 1959.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 123.

  • Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 101, repro.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 111, repro.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 328, repro.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 511, no. 766, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 375, repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: Sisley.

Wikidata ID

Q3231001

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