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Painted in mostly in jewel tones of topaz and aquamarine blue, and sage, spring, and pine green, a meadow is enclosed by a wooden fence, against a landscape of gently rolling hills under a vibrant sky in this horizontal painting. The scene is loosely painted with visible brushstrokes. Touches of white, cotton candy-pink, ruby-red, and azure-blue paint in the long grasses close to us could be wildflowers. A few swipes of straw yellow and pale and lapis blue could represent two people, standing and kneeling, in the field close to the fence. The rickety fence starts at the right edge of the canvas and extends into the distance, angling away from us to our left. Rolling hills beyond are a patchwork of emerald green and caramel brown, and are dotted with trees with full, dark green canopies. One brown building sits on the crest of a hill to our right of center. The horizon comes about halfway up this picture, and the turquoise-colored sky is dotted with white puffs of clouds. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower right corner, “Sisley 75.”

Alfred Sisley

Meadow, 1875

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 87

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 54.9 x 73 cm (21 5/8 x 28 3/4 in.)

framed: 79.7 x 98.7 x 10.2 cm (31 3/8 x 38 7/8 x 4 in.)

Credit Line

Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection

Accession Number

1970.17.83

Artists / Makers

Alfred Sisley (artist) French, 1839 - 1899

Image Use

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Inscription

lower right: Sisley.75

Provenance

Armand-François-Paul des Frisches, Comte Doria [1824-1896], Paris; (his sale, Galeries Georges Petit, Paris, 4 May 1899, no. 224); purchased by (Durand-Ruel, New York and Paris); sold 1900 to (Bernheim-Jeune, Paris). Jules Strauss [1861-1943], Paris; (Strauss sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 3 May 1902, no. 60); purchased by Joubert, possibly for (Galeries Georges Petit, Paris)[1] Senator Antonio Santamarina, Buenos Aires, by 1933;[2] sold 1957 to (Wildenstein and Co., New York);[3] by whom sold 4 October 1957 to Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York;[4] bequest 1970 to NGA.

[1] Joubert is recorded as purchaser in an annotated copy of sales catalogue in NGA curatorial files, and in the Gazette de l'Hotel Drouot. Galerie Georges Petit according to Françoise Daulte, Alfred Sisley, Catalogue Raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Lausanne, 1959, no. 190.

[2] Santamarina lent Meadow (La Prairie) to an exhibition in Buenos Aires in 1933. It was included in the 3-5 October 1955 sale of the Santamarina collection held at Adolfo Bullrich Y Cia in Buenos Aires, no. 79.

[3] Wildenstein date and source of acquisition according to letter dated 14 December 1998, in NGA curatorial files.

[4] Receipt dated 4 October 1957 from Wildenstein to Mrs. Bruce, in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Bernheim-Jeune
Bruce, Ailsa Mellon, Mrs.
Doria, Armand-François-Paul des Frisches, comte
Drouot, Hôtel
Durand-Ruel et Cie
Galerie Georges Petit
Joubert
Santamarina, Antonio
Strauss, Jules
Wildenstein & Co., Inc.

Exhibition History

1933: Escuela Francesa, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, 1933, no. 104.

1959: Masterpieces of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959, unnumbered catalogue

1961: French Paintings of the Nineteenth Century from the Collection of Mrs. Mellon Bruce, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1961, no. 60, repro

1966: French Paintings from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and Mrs. Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, no. 75, repro

1966: Sisley, Wildenstein & Co., New York, 1966, no. 22, repro., as La Prairie

1986: Capolavori Impressionisti dei Musei Americani, Museo e Gallerie Nazionali di Capodimonte, Naples; Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, 1986-1987, no. 47, repro.

1986: Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad; State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, 1986, no. 39, repro.

1989: Impressionisti della National Gallery of Art di Washington, Ala Napoleonica e Museo Correr, Venice; Palazzo Reale, Milan, 1989, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

1990: Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum, Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990, no. 45, repro.

1992: From El Greco to Cézanne: Masterpieces of European Painting from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and The Metroplitan Museum of Art, New York, National Gallery of Greece, Athens, 1992-1993, no. 55, repro.

1999: Around Impressionism: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1999, no cat.

1999: Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 1999, no. 50, repro.

2013: Intimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art, Museo dell'Ara Pacis Augustae, Rome (exhibition title in this venue: Impressionist Gems); California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, Seattle Art Museum, 2013-2016.

Bibliography

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

1966: Young, Mahonri Sharp. "The Mellon Collections: The Great Years of French Painting." Apollo 83 (June 1966): 430, 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. 765, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 376, repro.

1990: Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum. Exh. cat. Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990: no. 45, repro.

1991: Coman, Florence E. Joie de Vivre: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1991: no. 14, repro.