Widely considered an ‘ideal Impressionist,’ Alfred Sisley devoted his career to capturing the beauty and fleeting observations of the French landscape, as exemplified in the vibrant windswept depiction in Le Coup de vent, matin de mai.

Executed circa 1890, after Sisley had relocated from Paris to the edges of the Fontainebleau forest—a landscape immortalized by the Barbizon painters—the present work captures the artist’s environs near Moret, where the rivers Loing and Seine meet (see fig. 1). As Scholar Richard Shone writes, “The fame of Moret rested not so much on what was found inside the town but on the view it presented from across the Loing… Add to this the tree-lined walks along the river, the continuous sound of water from the weir and the great wheels of the mills, the houseboats and fishermen, and there was, as every guidebook exclaimed, 'a captivating picture', a sight 'worthy of the brush'. These supremely picturesque aspects of Moret left Sisley unabashed… Here was that conjunction of man-made and natural, the interleaving of foliage and house fronts between sky and water” (Richard Shone, Sisley, London, 1992, p. 159).

For Sisley, the rich tapestry of wild vegetation interwoven with the traces of modern society proved the subject of a lifet.mes , offering an endless array of subject matter to the artist season after season. Amid the lush vegetation and crystalline water and sky in Le Coup de vent, matin de mai, a woman and child look out upon the water. Far in the distance, couched among the rolling hills, one can see the hint of houses along the opposing riverbank. A sense of abundance and almost palpable appreciation of the scenery and its inhabitants pervade the springt.mes scene.

As Sisley himself stated, “After the subject, one of the most interesting aspects of the landscape is movement, life. It is also one of the most difficult to realize… It is the emotion of the painter that gives life and it is this emotion that inspires that of the viewer. Though the landscapist must remain master of his trade, the handling must, even in moments of utmost passion, communicate to the spectator the emotion that the painter has felt” (Alfred Sisley quoted in Exh. Cat., Lyon, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Alfred Sisley, poète de l’impressionnisme, 2002, p. 282, translated from the French).

Having met both Monet and Renoir years prior in the studio of Charles Gleyre, Sisley benefitted from the artistic dialogue enjoyed between the artists in the subsequent decades as each exhibited in the series of Impressionist Exhibitions begun in 1874 (see figs. 2-3). While the artists’ subjects resonated with one another, especially in the earliest years of the Impressionist movement, Sisley developed a truly joyous approach to his subject matter and the plein air technique, with works like Le Coup de vent, matin de mai conveying the artist’s appreciation for the rustling trees and billowing skies around him.

Painted at the height of his career, the present work comes alive with Sisley’s characteristically animated brushwork, rich impasto and chromatic splendor. On loan to the Minnesota Marit.mes Museum since 2011, Le Coup de vent, matin de mai comes to auction for the first t.mes in more than fifteen years.