The Barges

Wooden barges float lazily on a wide, still river in this quiet scene from 1865, their tall masts pointing up into a sky full of soft gray clouds. A tiny red flag flickers among the muted greens of the trees and the pale silver water, the one bright spark in an otherwise gentle palette. Charles-François Daubigny painted this during a time when he was deeply devoted to rivers, so much so that he built himself a floating studio called the Botin. From this little boat he drifted along the Seine and Oise, capturing water and weather right where he found them.

Daubigny belonged to the Barbizon school, a circle of French painters who traded their indoor studios for the open countryside. Working directly from nature put him ahead of his time, and his loose brushwork and love of shifting light helped pave the way for the Impressionists. Monet and other younger artists looked up to him for good reason. This is not a grand or showy painting, but that is part of its charm. It simply records an ordinary afternoon on the water with quiet honesty, and lets the calm speak for itself.