Charles François Daubigny

French landscapist, 1817–1878

BiographyDaubigny’s artistic training began under his father, the classical landscape painter Edmond-François Daubigny (1789-1843). Soon after he was apprenticed to an engraver, and he was later to publish two albums of etchings in 1850 and 1851. During this period he sketched in the environs of Paris and the Forest of Fontainebleau, and in 1835 he travelled to Italy. In 1838 he made his debut at the Paris Salon, where he regularly exhibited landscapes for the rest of his life. In 1849 he met Corot, and under his influence began to focus more on the landscape, painting directly from nature.

Inspired by Corot's approach to the treatment of light, and by the realism of his friends such as Théodore Rousseau, Daubigny sought to express the true unromanticized atmosphere of the open-air. His themes were the rustic scenes of countryside around Barbizon, where he and many of his fellow painters worked. His work stands out for the richness of the effects of light. He settled in Auvers-sur-Oise in 1860 but continued to travel around France. With increasing years his landscapes became more rapidly and freely painted.

Daubigny was interested in etching as a medium from as early as the 1840's. He exhibited etchings regularly in the Salons. By the 1860's he was achieving a drama of light and a range of tonality in his etchings which marks then out as amongst the greatest landscape prints of the age.

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