# Alfred Sisley artist context and auction value notes Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/alfred-sisley/ Profile generated: 2026-05-02T20:57:10.000Z Quality: high confidence, strong sources ## Artist identity - Birth date: 1839-10-30 - Death date: 1899-01-29 - Nationality: French, British - Movements: Impressionism - Common media: oil painting, pastel, lithography, etching ## About Alfred Sisley Alfred Sisley (1839–1899) was a French-born British Impressionist landscape painter recognized as one of the most dedicated practitioners of en plein air painting within the Impressionist movement. Born in Paris to affluent British parents, Sisley studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and in the studio of Charles Gleyre, where he met Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Frédéric Bazille. Unlike his contemporaries, Sisley remained almost exclusively devoted to landscape painting throughout his career, rarely venturing into figurative work. His subjects centered on the countryside around Paris, particularly the Seine and Loing river valleys, Louveciennes, and later the medieval town of Moret-sur-Loing, where he settled and died. He exhibited with the Impressionists but struggled financially for much of his life. Today his work is held by major institutions including the Musée d'Orsay, the National Gallery London, MoMA, and the Tate. ## Common works and media Collectors most frequently encounter Sisley's oil-on-canvas landscapes, including river views, village scenes, snow-covered fields, and garden subjects. He also produced a smaller body of pastels and a limited number of lithographs and etchings. His most recognizable scenes depict Moret-sur-Loing, the bridge at Argenteuil, flooding at Port-Marly, and the Thames near Hampton Court. Print works exist in various editions and states, and attribution of minor studies should be cross-referenced against the 2021 catalogue critique. ## Market and appraisal context Alfred Sisley maintains an active and well-documented secondary market anchored by major Impressionist and Modern art sales at Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, and regional European houses including Aguttes, Tajan, Artcurial, Lempertz, and Koller Auctions. Appraisily auction records index 367 lots with 251 carrying realized prices, spanning from late 1991 through May 2026. Price dispersion is wide: the full range runs from $10 (after/attribution prints and posters) to $4,212,500 (major oils), with a median of $461,000 and an interquartile spread of $73,000–$904,000. Authenticated oil paintings of canonical subjects — Moret-sur-Loing, the Seine, and winter landscapes — routinely achieve six- and seven-figure results at Christie's and Sotheby's. Pastels occupy a mid-tier band (e.g., Christie's October 2025: La gare de Moret-sur-Loing pastel at £177,800), while prints, etchings, and reproduction posters trade at the low end ($10–$450). Liquidity is stable, with 19 priced lots in the most recent 12-month window versus 20 in the prior period, indicating no significant contraction in turnover. ## Auction-house-backed market evidence Alfred Sisley maintains an active and well-documented secondary market anchored by major Impressionist and Modern art sales at Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, and regional European houses including Aguttes, Tajan, Artcurial, Lempertz, and Koller Auctions. Appraisily auction records index 367 lots with 251 carrying realized prices, spanning from late 1991 through May 2026. Price dispersion is wide: the full range runs from $10 (after/attribution prints and posters) to $4,212,500 (major oils), with a median of $461,000 and an interquartile spread of $73,000–$904,000. Authenticated oil paintings of canonical subjects — Moret-sur-Loing, the Seine, and winter landscapes — routinely achieve six- and seven-figure results at Christie's and Sotheby's. Pastels occupy a mid-tier band (e.g., Christie's October 2025: La gare de Moret-sur-Loing pastel at £177,800), while prints, etchings, and reproduction posters trade at the low end ($10–$450). Liquidity is stable, with 19 priced lots in the most recent 12-month window versus 20 in the prior period, indicating no significant contraction in turnover. ### Appraisal notes Appraisily would use these 367 indexed auction records as a comparable-lot foundation, then refine valuation against the specific work's medium, dimensions, signature presence, canvas stamp or panel marks, condition report, exhibition history, and documented provenance chain. For oil paintings, the 2021 catalogue critique (catalogue critique des peintures et des pastels) is the current attribution standard; inclusion or exclusion from it materially affects value. Photographs of the recto, verso, signature detail, and any labels or inscriptions are essential for narrowing comparable lots. Edition size, state, and plate tone are critical for prints and etchings. Price positioning depends on whether the work is a fully authenticated oil, a pastel, a study, an attributed work, or a reproductive print — the auction data shows orders-of-magnitude differences between these categories. ### Valuation factors - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Collector notes ### Market caveats - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Market evidence sources - undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/alfred-sisley/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-alfred-sisley-aft-original-etching-on-paper-18-c-7d340d2827 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-alfred-sisley-3214-c-d0b49999ad - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-alfred-sisley-british-french-1839-1899-attributed-to-oil-painting-426-c-2f1d9dc343 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-alfred-sisley-1839-1899-french-canal-saint-martin-lithographic-print-on-board-1846-c-11b1b09bed - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-alfred-sisley-british-french-1839-1899-attributed-to-oil-painting-286-c-9e7d8f6735 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-alfred-sisley-paris-1839-moret-sur-loing-1899-attributed-winter-landscape-217-c-ff41c62b4e - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-alfred-sisley-1839-1899-attributed-to-oil-on-canvas-163-c-f02f086f07 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-alfred-sisley-1839-1899-l-a-s-moret-s-loing-12-janvier-1897-a-un-cher-ami-358-c-45baa7fdd4 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-alfred-sisley-le-chantier-de-matrat-moret-sur-loing-1888-27-c-99f41a192c - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-alfred-sisley-1839-1899-palefrenier-et-cheval-507-c-2574ce2b3f ## Appraisily data basis Appraisily artist pages combine identity research grounded in museum records, library authority files, and scholarly catalogues with auction-house context, public sale records, realized prices, and comparable lot data when available. For Alfred Sisley, this page draws on records from the Library of Congress, VIAF, RKD, MoMA, and Tate, as well as the 2021 catalogue critique des peintures et des pastels. ## Sources - Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79102762 - RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History): https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/72857 - Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q175130 - VIAF (OCLC): https://viaf.org/viaf/32004750/ - The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/66440 - Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/alfred-sisley-1948 - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Sisley