Charles Daubigny

Description

The present large drawing is preparatory for the painting Chemin de Halage, Les Bords de l’Oise today in the Museum Mesdag, The Hague. The painting is dated around 1875 and the drawing might have been executed at the same time. Daubigny treated the river Oise many times throughout his career, continually returning to its waters and barks in search of motifs. In 1857 he traveled the river in the boat of Jules Breton, mooring wherever he found his subjects. The present work, in which we see the landscape from the bank of the river, appears to be a kind of study in atmospheric perspective. The drawing focuses on the forms of the trees and the road receding into the distance. The horses clearly visible in the painting are hinted at only in a rapid shorthand notation; the barge is just recognizable by the faint vertical lines indicating a mast. The vigorous but loose handling of the charcoal gives graphic life to the calm scene.