The Seine at Port-Marly, Piles of Sand
Alfred Sisley (British, active in France, 1839–1899)1875
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Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front. Sized to standard frames by cropping, never stretching — at most about 3% comes off one edge, which isn’t noticeable on most pieces, and we only offer a size when it stays that small.
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Made to order and delivered in 5–8 business days (2–4 to print, 3–4 in transit). US shipping only for now. Because each print is made for your order, all sales are final — but if it arrives damaged or defective, send us a photo within 14 days and we’ll replace it free. Full policy.
Why is it this affordable?
A thin, flat margin on every piece — just enough to keep the store running. Most of what you pay is the print itself. We only sell sizes that reproduce at full quality, and we don’t mark up the large sizes the way most shops do.
About this work
Of all the landscapes Alfred Sisley painted in and around Marly-le-Roi, where he lived from 1875 to 1878, this scene of workers dredging sand to facilitate barge traffic is perhaps the most original. Generally, the Impressionists showed the Seine River as a place of weekend leisure for Parisians, painting activities such as boating, yachting, promenading, and dining. Sisley depicted the river during the workweek, along with some of the men who depended on it for their livelihood.
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 54.5 × 73.7 cm (21 7/16 × 29 in.)
Museum record · 3 owners · 11 exhibitions
Provenance
- Georges Viau, Paris; his sale, Galeries Durand-Ruel, March 4, 1907, lot 74, as La Seine à Port-Marly, 1875; bought in by Durand-Ruel.
- Georges Bernheim, Paris, April 1920.
- Martin A. Ryerson (died 1932), Chicago, June 11, 1920; bequeathed to the Art Institute, 1933.
Exhibitions
- Paris, Galeries Georges Petit, A. Sisley, February 1897.
- Paris, Exposition Centennale de L’Art Français, 1800-1889, 1900, as La Seine à Port-Marly, 1875, appartient à M. George Viau.
- Paris, Georges Petit, Exposition d’oeuvres d’Alfred Sisley, May 7-June 1917.
- The Art Institute of Chicago, A Century in Progress, Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, June 1–November 1, 1933, as Sand Heaps, 1875.
- The Art Institute of Chicago, A Century in Progress, Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, June 1–November 1, 1933.
- Park Forest, Ill, Exhibition, March 25-April 22, 1956, no cat. Albi, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Trésors impressionnistes du Musée de Chicago, June 27-August 31, 1980, as Les Tas de sable, 1875.
- Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art / Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago / Paris, Galeries Nationales d’Exposition du Grand Palais, A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape, June 28 - September 6, 1984 / October 23, 1984 - January 6, 1985 / February 8 - April 2, 1985, as The Seine of Port Marly, Piles of Sand, 1875.
- London, Royal Academy of Arts, Alfred Sisley, July 3-October 18, 1992, as The Seine at Port-Marly: Heaps of Sand, 1875; Paris, Musée d’Orsay, October 26, 1992-February 7, 1993; Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery, March 14-'june 13, 1993.
- Washington, DC, Phillips Collection, Impressionists on the Seine: A Celebration of Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party, September 21-February 9, 1997, no cat. no., as The Seine of Port Marly, Piles of Sand, 1875.
- Tokyo, Isetan Museum, Alfred Sisley Retrospective, March 2- April 17, 2000; Takamatsu City Art Museum, Kagawa, April 22- May 21, 2000; Hiroshima Museum of Art, May 27- July 2, 2000; The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama, July 8- September 10, 2000.
- Fort Worth, Tex., Kimbell Museum of Art, The Impressionists: Master Paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago, June 29–November 2, 2008.
