The life of Sisley, stylistically the most characteristic impressionist painter, has not been researched to the same extent as that of his more fêted colleagues. He met Renoir and Monet as students; he, they and Pissarro founded the group that organised the first Impressionist show. Manet was at the centre of a circle that met at the Café Guerbois that Sisley (and his friend Zola, as well as many other impressionists) was part of. Sisley, more French than English, stayed in England during the Franco-Prussian war, Pissarro introducing him to his dealer in London.