The Seine at Saint Mammes 1888

"The Seine at Saint Mammes" is an impressionist landscape, painted by Alfred Sisley, who was born in Paris to British parents. As a landscape, it represents a genre that, at the time, traditionally excluded human presence. We are shown nature and a small town, in a way that seems untouched by society, yet Sisley lived during a time when class divisions shaped the landscape. Impressionism often evokes ideas of bourgeois leisure; however, Sisley struggled financially throughout his life, unable to fully participate in the lifestyle that his paintings seemingly celebrated. The painting invites reflection on the relationship between the artist’s lived experience and the world they depict, while also speaking to broader questions about class, identity, and representation in art. The scene invites us to contemplate the intersection of personal identity and societal structures.