The Plain at Veneux-Nadon

Although he trained for a career in business in London, Alfred Sisley returned to his birthplace, Paris, to pursue painting. He was accepted into the famous École des Beaux-Arts and quickly made friends with a group of artists who would together form the Impressionists. Those painters explored the transient effects of sunlight on landscapes using short, quick brushstrokes. While Sisley’s innovative technique is admired today, the sketch-like appearance of his works shocked nineteenth-century audiences and, as a result, he was never able to become financially secure through his art. Throughout his career, Sisley perfected his style through the depiction of landscapes in the area around Paris known as the Île-de-France, in towns and villages such as Moret-sur-Loing, Sèvres, Marly-le-Roi and, as exemplified by this painting, Veneux-Nadon.