Farm at Kerity, Brittany

When Parisian Charles-François Daubigny moved to Barbizon in 1843, he left his studio and started to work en plein air (in the open air), letting nature be his guide. He specialised in river landscapes, for which there was a big demand from Dutch collectors. In 1857, wanting to be even closer to his subject, Daubigny built a studio boat with living accommodation, which enabled him to go on river trips with his son Karl and close friend Camille Corot.

During his period in Brittany in the early 1860s, Daubigny painted a number of landscapes, including this farm at Kerity. His horizontal compositions had a heavy influence on painters in 19th-century Holland. The horizontal layout often appears in the work of the Hague School painters, especially in Jacob Maris’s views of towns and landscapes. Vincent van Gogh was also a great admirer of Daubigny and the influence of the French artist is clearly apparent in Van Gogh’s work, especially during his time in Drenthe.

Source: M. Bosma (ed.), Franse passie. Courbet, Daubigny, Monet: Franse schilderkunst in Nederlands bezit, Utrecht 2006 and J. Sillevis, H. Kraan (eds.), De School van Barbizon: Franse meesters van de 19de eeuw, The Hague, 1985-1986.