Charles-François Daubigny - St Paul's from the Surrey Side [1871-73]

Charles-François Daubigny - St Paul's from the Surrey Side [1871-73], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

This view shows St Paul's Cathedral in the distance, left of centre. The vantage point of the artist was on the south, or Surrey side of the river Thames, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge. Daubigny first visited London in 1866, returning in 1870-71 to escape the Franco-Prussian war. This painting, dated 1873, was either begun on the spot and finished in the studio, or was worked up from sketches made of the river during this visit.

[Oil on canvas, 44.5 x 81 cm]

Charles-François Daubigny - Spring Landscape [1863]

Charles-François Daubigny - Spring Landscape [1863], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

As did Monet a few years later, Daubigny (Paris, February 15, 1817 - Paris, February 19, 1878) owned a small studio boat in which he travelled along the Oise and the Seine on the lookout for motifs. The pictures painted from the river often have a panoramic element. Daubigny liked to complete even large paintings out of doors; they thus make a more live impression than most of the works by the Barbizon painters. The Impressionists held him in high esteem as their precursor. He, in turn, as a member of the jury in the Salon, defended their works.

[Oil on canvas, 133 x 240 cm]