This is 11th in a series of ARTicles featuring newly restored paintings on display at the freshly renovated Marshalltown Arts & Civic Center (MACC). Each month a different painting will be featured.

In 1958, Bill and Dorothy Fisher gifted Marshalltown an extraordinary legacy; a stunning mid-century modern community center and a world class art collection highlighting the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

After 55 years, the community center and collection were both in need of restoration. In 2017, with full support of the Fisher Family and the Fisher Governor Foundation, committees were formed to write grants, digitize records, reach out to organizations and individuals for funding, and hire technical experts and consultants.

An on-site evaluation of the collection was completed the day before the EF3 tornado devastated the north side of Marshalltown and the appraisal of the collection was completed in 2018. A total of 44 artworks, (paintings and sculptures) were chosen for restoration.

In July 2020, the Chicago Conservation Center retrieved the identified works. The very next month, the community center, and much of Marshalltown, was decimated by a derecho.

Restoration of the art was completed in 2021, and the Fisher Art Museum opened in September 2022.

Currently on display are approximately half of the paintings from the Fisher Art Collection. The others are resting in climate-controlled storage and will be on view in 2025.

Today’s featured artist is Alfred Sisley. Now at the Fisher Art Museum, his ‘Vielle Chaumiere aux Sablons’ (Old cottage in Sablon), looks as fresh as when completed in 1883.

The son of English parents, Alfred Sisley was born in Paris in 1839, spending the majority of his youth and adult life in France.

Although he traveled and painted in London and other locales, the majority of his work reflects the countryside outside Paris. An original member of the Impressionists, Sisley received only minimal recognition for his talent while living. As is true of many great artists, the amount of respect and recognition afforded his work has grown since his passing.

Sisley met Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet when all were studying under the Parisian artist Charles Gleyre. His early student works were conventional subjects in darkened shades; however, influenced by his peers, his palette brightened and brushstrokes loosened. Repeated disagreements between Gleyre and his students over stylistic differences prompted the three friends to break away and paint together in the manner that suited them. Primarily painting out of doors and with swift strokes capturing transient light. The result was revolutionary – the result was Impressionism.

Though occasionally backed by patrons, which funded several trips to Britain, Sisley lived much of his life in poverty. And though he twice applied for French citizenship, he was denied such. Thus he remained a British citizen. It was not for lack of talent that Sisley was “less celebrated” than his fellow artists; his personality was more subtle, less daring, than those of his charismatic peers. In life and in subject matter, he was drawn to the fragile and transient.

Sisley seldom delved into figurative works and his favorite part of any landscape was the sky. Explaining his fascination with such, he stated, “It has the charm of things which disappear and I love it particularly.”

‘Vielle Chaumiere aux Sablons’ is an oil painting on canvas whose bright colors and confident brushstrokes well confirm his command of his palette and medium. And though the sky covers nearly two-thirds of the surface, it serves to highlight, rather than overwhelm, the humble cottage in the foreground.

Alfred Sisley died in 1899 of throat cancer, 9 months after the death of his beloved wife Eugenie, with whom he had 2 children. Alfred Sisley was 59 years old.

Treat yourself to a visit to the MACC and soak in the beauty that awaits you. Call 641.758.3005 or visit www.maccia.org for more information.

——

Nancy Jeanne Adams is a member of the Fisher Art Museum Committee.