The Island of Madre: Moonlight

The moonlit subject of this paiting is the fortress and island of Madre in Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, viewed from Stresa.The French artist Le Sidaner, however, was always more interested in producing a mood than in truth to nature. Here the overall aqua-marine tone and the moonlight dappling through the balcony create a poetic and almost fairy-tale atmosphere. Le Sidaner was influenced by Monet's paintings but unlike him, and the Impressionists, he rarely liked to work 'en plein air', or in the open air. He preferred to make small sketches and enlarge them on to canvas in the studio. He also painted from memory.