A Corner of Moret-sur-Loing 1895

Alfred Sisley made this drawing of a village in France, Moret-sur-Loing, using pastel on paper. It's a lovely demonstration of how a seemingly simple material can evoke an entire mood. Pastels are interesting: they're basically pure pigment, the same stuff that gives paint its color, but held together with just a bit of binder. This means they have a wonderful, velvety texture, as you can see in the soft rendering of the buildings and sky. Sisley's technique involved layering these dry pigments, one on top of the other, to create subtle variations in tone and color. The beauty of pastel is its directness. There’s very little between the artist's hand and the surface of the work, giving it an immediacy. It’s a relatively quick medium, so it would have been possible to capture the fleeting light and atmosphere of the scene. This quality also suggests Sisley may have been working en plein air, directly in the landscape. He allows the texture of the paper to show through, adding to the informality and impressionistic quality of the image. In the end, the magic of this work comes from the material’s inherent qualities, making it a beautiful example of how closely linked material, process, and artistic vision can be.