Charles François Daubigny 1817-1878

Charles François Daubigny was born on 15 February 1817 in Paris. He learned the painter’s craft from his father, the landscape painter Edme-François Daubigny, and from Paul Delaroche. Although he began participating regularly in exhibitions from 1838, it was not until ten years later that his landscapes earned him general recognition.

Daubigny’s landscapes are among the first works executed en plein air. From 1843 onwards, he maintained relationships with the painters of the Barbizon School, though he never truly became a member. Daubigny aspired to reproduce nature in an immediate, unembellished manner. He refused to introduce personal interpretation into his depictions, focusing instead on capturing the general impression and staying close to the sketch.

It was only after meeting Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot in 1852 - whom he accompanied on trips throughout Switzerland and France and with whom he maintained a lifelong friendship - that Daubigny definitively moved away from anecdotal scenes.

In 1857, Daubigny navigated the Seine and Oise rivers in his boat, which he had converted into a floating studio. Encounters in 1865 with Gustave Courbet, Eugène Boudin, and the young Claude Monet in Trouville led him to paint in a lighter, freer manner. In his work, Daubigny anticipated key elements of Impressionism, dissolving forms to create harmonies of color.

Charles François Daubigny died on 19 February 1878.