Conflans (1873)

Charles-François Daubigny prints bring the calm rivers, orchards and riverbanks of nineteenth-century France into your home. Daubigny was a Barbizon school painter who worked outdoors, often from a boat he turned into a floating studio, and he is seen as an important forerunner of Impressionism. Our collection of fine art prints covers his river and pond scenes, Normandy coast views, orchards, harvests, animal sketches and moonlit landscapes.

About Charles-François Daubigny

Charles-François Daubigny was born in Paris on 15 February 1817 into a family of painters. His father, Edmé-François Daubigny, and his uncle, the miniaturist Pierre Daubigny, taught him first, and he later studied with Jean-Victor Bertin, Jacques Raymond Brascassat and Paul Delaroche. For years he earned his living illustrating books, magazines and travel guides.

His painting changed after 1843, when he went to Barbizon to work outdoors in nature. In 1852 he met Camille Corot at Optevoz in the Isère, and he and Gustave Courbet each painted a series of views there. In 1857 he bought a boat, fitted it out as a studio and named it the Botin. From it he painted along the Seine and the Oise, often around Auvers, and in 1862 he published Voyage en bateau, a set of etchings about life on board with his son Karl as cabin boy. Claude Monet later built his own studio boat after Daubigny's example.

Daubigny joined the jury of the Paris Salon in 1866, alongside Corot. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 he was in London, where he met Monet, and the two went on to the Netherlands together. Back in Auvers he was visited by Paul Cézanne. He died in Paris on 19 February 1878 and is buried in Père-Lachaise cemetery. Vincent van Gogh admired him and painted his garden at Auvers three times.

Style and Subjects

Daubigny painted the French countryside as he found it: slow rivers, still ponds, orchards, harvests and cows at the water's edge. His pictures are wide and low, often lit from behind. Critics of his day complained that his paintings looked like first impressions rather than finished pictures, which is exactly what the younger Impressionists liked about them.

He was also a busy printmaker, with 127 etchings to his name, and with Corot he tried out cliché-verre, a process halfway between photography and printmaking. The collection reflects this range, from finished river views and coastal scenes at Villerville to pencil sketches of oxen, swine and gleaners.

Famous Works

• The Harvest (1851), Musée d'Orsay, Paris. A big harvest scene, painted early in his Barbizon years and now one of the Orsay's main Daubigny canvases.
• The Hamlet of Optevoz (c. 1852), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. A village in the Isère valley where Daubigny painted alongside Corot and Courbet.
• The Sluice in the Optevoz Valley (1850s), painted in several versions, one in the Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich. A motif from his stays at Optevoz that he returned to more than once.
• Springtime (1857), Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Counted among his most ambitious canvases, and a picture he also made as an etching.
• The Boat Studio (Le bateau-atelier) (1861). The Botin, the boat he fitted out as a floating studio for painting on the Seine and Oise.
• Rising Moon at Barbizon, Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent. A moonrise over the fields near the village that gave the Barbizon school its name.
• Boats on the Seacoast at Étaples (1871), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. A small panel of boats on the shore at Étaples, on the Channel coast.

Decorating with Daubigny Prints

Daubigny's river views are some of the easiest landscapes to live with. The long, low format of pictures like The Seine; Morning or Banks of the Oise at Auvers suits the space above a sofa, sideboard or bed, and their soft greens and silvery skies sit well in calm, natural interiors with wood, linen and neutral walls.

For a kitchen or breakfast room, try the orchards and harvests, such as Apple Trees at Auvers. The coast views at Villerville and Étaples suit a bathroom or hallway, and the small pencil studies of oxen and farm animals make a relaxed group in a study or country-style room.

FAQ

What art movement was Charles-François Daubigny part of?

Daubigny belonged to the Barbizon school, a group of French landscape painters who worked directly from nature. He is also seen as an important forerunner of Impressionism, and Cézanne and Van Gogh admired him.

What is Daubigny's most famous painting?

Springtime (1857), now in the Musée d'Orsay, is among his most ambitious canvases. The Harvest (1851) and his many views of the Oise around Auvers are also well known.

What was Daubigny's boat studio?

In 1857 he bought a boat, fitted it out as a studio and named it the Botin. He painted from it along the Seine and the Oise, and the idea later inspired Claude Monet to make his own studio boat.

Where can I see Daubigny's original paintings?

The Musée d'Orsay and the Louvre in Paris each hold around twenty of his works. Others are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent and the Wallraf–Richartz Museum in Cologne.

How can I recognise a Daubigny landscape?

Look for a wide, low view of a river, pond or field with a long horizon, a big sky and quiet reflections in the water. The brushwork is loose and fresh, closer to a sketch than to a polished studio picture.

Related Artists

• Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot: friend and fellow landscape painter, who worked with him at Optevoz and on cliché-verre prints
• Gustave Courbet: realist painter of the same generation who painted views of Optevoz alongside him
• Claude Monet: met Daubigny in London in 1870 and followed his example with a studio boat
• Vincent van Gogh: admired Daubigny and painted his garden at Auvers three times
• Ernest Meissonier: friend who joined Daubigny's small artists' community in Paris in 1838