Under the Lamp

Under the Lamp, also known as Sous la lampe - Afred Sisley et sa femme, chez Bracquemond à Sèvres, is an 1887 oil-on-canvas painting by French artist Marie Bracquemond. It is held in a private collection.

History and description
The work represents one of a handful at the end of a five-year period (1881–1886) during which she did not produce any paintings. In May 1886, she exhibited her works for the last time at the eighth and final exhibition of the Impressionists. Later that year, Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) came to stay with her family, sharing his approach and techniques. Under the Lamp was likely completed at Bracquemond's home in Sèvres. The portrait features Alfred Sisley (1839–1899) and his then long-term partner Marie-Louise Adelaide-Eugenie Sisley, who would later become his wife. They are seated at the dinner table in Bracquemond's home, lit by the light of a gas lamp. Gustave Geffroy, the first historian of Impressionism, gave a positive review of Bracquemond's use of light in his 1894 history of the movement. It was bought by an American collector in 1971.