Alfred Sisley, 'The Bridge at Sèvres', about 1877

In the summer of 1877, the Impressionist painter Alfred Sisley moved from Marly-le-Roi to the small town of Sèvres. Located just a few miles outside Paris, Sèvres was famous in particular for its porcelain factory, which attracted not only talented designers and ceramicists but also many painters who drew inspiration from its picturesque location on the River Seine.

Sisley had a strong interest in depicting bridges over rivers, as seen in his painting View of the Thames: Charing Cross Bridge of 1874. It is not surprising that he returned to this motif multiple times three years later, capturing the bridge at Sèvres from different angles, in various weather conditions and with different light effects. Five of these artworks are dated 1877, and while the date of this particular work is not known, it was probably created around the same time.

It is painted looking south, with Billancourt on the left and Sèvres on the right. Billancourt was a popular retreat for wealthy Parisians during the nineteenth century, where families could escape the bustle of the city and enjoy the tranquillity and greenery. Many elegant villas were built, some of which can be seen in the painting.

The theme is one of leisure. Three men are enjoying a day’s fishing. To the right, two figures stroll towards the bridge, while Sisley hints at other passers-by and perhaps even some dogs further along. It is a fine, although somewhat cloudy, day. More than half of the canvas is taken up with a huge, cloud-filled sky, painted rapidly in thick, broad strokes of colour. Elsewhere, the brushwork is also extraordinarily free and spontaneous, creating a sense of energy and movement. The foreground is made up of blocks of colour with smaller and tighter brushstrokes suggesting foliage, while the vibrant blues of the river brilliantly capture the reflections of light and the clouds moving overhead. The painting’s size indicates that it is a standard ready-made canvas (dénomination 8), and confirms that it was painted en plein air, a practice developed during the 1860s by Sisley and his colleagues, including Monet, Pissarro and Renoir. Drawing inspiration from nature, they would paint outside rather than in the studio, employing loose, rapid brushstrokes in order to capture the transient effects of light, weather and colour.

Sisley depicted seven of the bridge’s nine distinctive semicircular arches. The bridge was commissioned by King Louis XIV soon after he had formally established his court at the Palace of Versailles, located to the west of Paris. Previously, it had been necessary to take a ferry across the river at Sèvres, and the new bridge facilitated a more practical and rapid journey for the king and his entourage. The original wood bridge was replaced with the more sturdy stone structure seen here, which was inaugurated in 1823.

Although the 1870s was a highly productive and pivotal period for Sisley, he had little commercial success and struggled with poverty for the rest of his career, dying at the age of fifty-nine of throat cancer.