Alfred Sisley, 'View of the Thames: Charing Cross Bridge', 1874

Alfred Sisley was a leading figure in the Impressionist movement. Born and raised in France, his parents were English and he remained a British citizen. However, he travelled only twice to Britain in a professional capacity, in 1874 and 1897.

This small painting is one of around 18 views that Sisley produced during the first of these visits and his only depiction of central London. The energy of the broken brushwork in the foreground creates a sense of movement in the River Thames, which is bustling with activity on this summer’s day. Different kinds of vessels can be seen, including larger steam boats used for transporting merchandise, as well as traditional sail boats, which are moored on the right-hand side. A tiny rowing boat with three figures looks somewhat lost among the steam-powered vessels behind it. The Impressionists were driven by a desire to depict the modern world, and Sisley may have been commenting on the old order giving way to the new.

In the middle ground we see the sturdy piers and stark horizontals of the railway bridge that had opened in 1864. Originally a suspension footbridge, it had been redesigned to carry trains from the newly opened Charing Cross station across the river. The presence of trains is suggested here by the clouds of billowing white smoke.

Sisley’s view was taken from the south bank, looking across to the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral, which rises up among the adjacent structures. The artist elevated the ground on the north side of the Thames, giving the impression that the buildings were on a hill overlooking the river, but in reality, the structures were lower and flatter. Sisley would have been aware of the London views produced by fellow artists such as Monet (including The Thames below Westminster) and Pissarro, and this particular painting may have been directly influenced by Charles-Francois Daubigny’s St Paul’s from the Surrey Side. The compositions are similar, although Daubigny’s juxtaposition of St Paul’s with Blackfriars Bridge seems to be more accurate than Sisley’s placement of Charing Cross Bridge. Sisley’s bright palette of blues and whites is very different from Daubigny’s darker tones, which conjure up the thick smog of late nineteenth-century London.

The early 1870s was an important period for Sisley, during which he produced many exquisite landscapes and forged a close working relationship with Monet. However, it was also a time of financial hardship, when he became increasingly reliant on supporters such as Jean-Baptiste Faure, a famous opera singer who financed Sisley’s tour to England in 1874, and the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel, who spent his life supporting, collecting and promoting the work of the Impressionists. Durand-Ruel acquired this painting from the artist in 1876.