Formal Essay #1 - Rewrites

Su Yun Kim

Prof. Kyle Brebner

IERW (04)

11 November 2015

Painter who Loved the Nature

             Alfred Sisley, the British man who painted the painting on page 3, was born and lived in France. He is a representative impressionist painter and was a friend of Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. He especially drew lots of landscapes as an impressionist painter. As a result, he left a lot of masterpieces that depict a glint of water and forest in nature mostly of Ile-de-France, the surrounding region around Paris. Although he wasn’t those kind of painters who makes showy color or draws anything special, I think his works are worthwhile because he expressed details and calm things of nature through his own way. Some impressionists praise his consistency in impressionism of how he focused on air, sky and landscape. And they say that he was hidden under his great friend, Monet, at the same time. So I will explain why his paintings have not seen the light compared with his friend in my view.

             As you can see in the title of View of Canal Saint-Martin, Paris, this painting is showing the view of Canal Saint-Martin in Paris during the winter time. Since he yearned for life of countryside, he usually used a rural scenery as the material of his paintings. But, exceptionally this one shows the city scenery. The Seine River flows quietly in the middle of the painting and there are also some bare trees and buildings. People are simply drawn as a black figures along the road and on the bridge. Even though this painting is about winter scenery, his idea of using the blue color makes the water stream and the clouds look softer and warmer. And more, he added the movement to the painting by using natural light and a short brush stroke. It helped making city scenery more tranquil like the atmosphere of the country.

             In my opinion, I think those materials in this painting reflect the reality of himself. For example, his characteristic or his financial conditions. Since the decline in wealth in 1870, he lost support from his father. That was when he completed this painting. So he had to live in poverty. Personally, I think that he and his painting were substantially affected by this financial condition. The background of this painting, which is the winter, reflects his financial condition. More specifically, clear sky, pure cloud and the river which mirrors them could be interpreted as the life he had looked for and desired while he was living in the destitution in reality. The second analysis is about his character. He was recognized as the quietest and gentlest man among the impressionists. I believe his equable temperament influenced on his painting techniques that he used. As the result, he drew only natural scenery and mostly of rural places.

             The reasons why I like his paintings are his unique peaceful mood, the color of pastel tones and sustained painting style. Also, these characteristics are the reasons for him being a representative impressionist artist. Surely, the best reason is the place he painted on this painting, the Canal Saint-Martin. Personally, I have a special memories of the place. When I lived in Paris as an exchange student, I used to have a stroll and enjoy the cool air with friends. It remains one of the best memories there for me. However, I wonder what if he has tried something different with his paintings. It is because I feel sorry that he has been undervalued and always been compared with Monet and Renoir, who were his friends and also contemporary artists. If he had tried something different like using not only the nature but various things as the material of his paintings, I think those would have been also another great works with different impressions. So, although the world consider him as one of the best impressionist painters, I recommend you to imagine how his works would be if he painted city scenery or weird thing that we can’t easily understand.