The Road in the Woods

Alfred Sisley

National Gallery of Art

This painting depicts a scene where a winding path on the bottom left leads into a wooded area. Tall green trees occupy the left side of the painting, while on the right a small gap shows a hilly, dark blue horizon line with more green foliage and the red roof of a building. The sky above is light blue with dots of white and lilac purple. Across the bottom of the painting, a wooden fence lines a light brown path that leads through the woods. Near the bottom left corner, small strokes of paint suggest two people walking along the path away from us, one adult and one child. The color palette is predominantly green with hints of light brown, along with soft blues and purples in the sky. The brushstrokes are loose and impressionistic, with paint applied in short, overlapping lines and dots.