Of all the Barbizon painters and their artistic kinship, Charles
François Daubigny (1817-1878) is the one who approached nature with the
most reverent spirit. He is in a way the least subjective of them all,
because his love of nature even in her simplest aspects prevented him
from imposing his own personality upon her; and for this very reason he
is more varied in his range of landscape subjects than any of the other
masters of this important group. The most fugitive effects of light
and atmosphere were seized by him with a masterly sureness which found
expression in every touch of his summary brush. Every hour of the day,
every season of the year, every mood of nature appealed to him with
equal intensity, although the choice of his subjects is most frequently
inspired by serene optimism.
Daubigny belonged to a family of artists. He received his first
instruction from his father, and afterwards studied under Delaroche.
Before he began to paint landscapes in the neighbourhood of Paris,
he gained his livelihood by painting sweet-boxes! He found his best
subjects on the banks of the Oise, but worked also in other districts
of France, in Italy, and in England. Of his sojourn in England we are
reminded by _The Thames at Erith_ (No. 2821), one of the thirteen
Daubignys bequeathed to the Louvre by Thomy Thiéry, which also include
the sun-flooded _Weir Gate at Optevoz_ (No. 2818, Plate LI.), _The
Pond with Storks_ (No. 2815), _Les Péniches_ (No. 2820), _Morning on
the River_ (No. 2824), and _The Banks of the Oise_ (No. 2823). _The
Vintage in Burgundy_ (No. 184), which was bought by the State at
the ridiculously low price of £400, is a picture of unusually large
dimensions for an artist who generally needed but a small surface to
express his ardent worship of nature. The delicious _Spring_ (No.
185), with its blossoming apple trees and young grass, must be counted
among his finest achievements. It is a picture that fills the heart
of the beholder with the joy and contentment engendered by the blithe
atmosphere of a bright spring day in the country.