Provencher s Mill at Moret 1883

Alfred Sisley's painting, "Provencher's Mill at Moret," now in Rotterdam’s Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, presents a landscape rendered through delicate brushstrokes. The composition is dominated by the horizontal structure of a wooden bridge and the solid mass of the mill, set against a subtly clouded sky. Sisley’s interest is clearly in form and surface, as the textures of water, stone, and foliage are rendered with short, broken strokes of blues, greens, and whites. The bridge creates a strong diagonal line, guiding the eye through the space while also dividing the canvas. The brushwork evokes a sense of movement and light. The reflections on the water and the diffuse light filtering through the trees destabilize any sense of fixed perspective. The structural components of the mill and bridge are softened by the atmospheric rendering, which allows the geometric forms to integrate smoothly with the natural surroundings. This interplay between architectural structure and atmospheric effect is typical of Sisley’s exploration of visual perception, which is less about capturing a scene and more about engaging with the structural possibilities of paint itself.