Avenue of Poplars near Moret-sur-Loing

Held at the Galerie du Jeu de Paume, this 1890 canvas shows the avenue of poplars near Moret-sur-Loing — one of Sisley's most characteristic late subjects. He had settled in Moret in 1889 after years of financial hardship and increasing isolation from the main Impressionist group. The poplar avenue, with its tall vertical trees lining a road, provided a compositional type he explored repeatedly: the tree-tunnel creating a strong sense of depth and organizing the view into a corridor of light. Moret-sur-Loing, a medieval walled town on the Loing river south of the Forest of Fontainebleau, became his permanent home, and the surrounding landscape was documented with the same intimacy Pissarro brought to Éragny.

The poplar avenue creates a strong perspectival tunnel with tall verticals on both sides. Sisley renders the trees with upward, vertical brushstrokes that convey their characteristic form, while the road between is handled with lighter, horizontal marks. The delicate foliage above is broken into small, luminous touches.