Early Life, Family and Training Alfred Sisley was born in Paris on October 30, 1839. His upbringing was shaped by the intersection of two cultures, as his parents, William Sisley and Felicia Sell, were British expatriates living in France. His father worked as a merchant of imported luxury goods, providing a comfortable, bourgeois environment for the young boy. This background meant that Alfred grew up navigating a bilingual world, becoming equally comfortable in French and English. The path laid out for him was not originally one of brushes and canvas. His father had intended for him to fo…