Charles-François Daubigny: Finding new perspectives
Industrial London comes to life in Daubigny's view of the Thames
[Charles Daubigny] (1861–1869) by Nadar [Gaspard Félix Tournachon]The J. Paul Getty Museum
Charles François Daubigny
Charles François Daubigny was born in Paris on 15 February 1817 and was brought up in a family of artists. Trained in painting by both his father and uncle, Daubigny was also an apprentice to an engraver and developed his talents in the art of printmaking.
The Eagle's Nest in the Forest of Fontainebleau (Le nid de l'aigle dans la Foret de Fontainebleau (in or before 1844) by Charles-François DaubignyNational Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Painting in Nature
Daubigny’s reputation as both a professional printmaker and painter was well established during his lifetime. By the mid-19th century, he became associated with a group of artists known as the Barbizon School of painters.
The Barbizon School
The Barbizon School was an informal community of artists who placed great importance on painting directly from and in nature. They worked in the French village of Barbizon and the surrounding forests of Fontainebleau (south-east of Paris).
Daubigny’s typical works often depicted tranquil rural landscapes (as pictured in the examples above). Many of these landscapes feature scenes of French rivers such as the Seine, Marne and Oise, on which Daubigny travelled and worked.
The Boat Studio, from series Voyage en Bateau, 1862 (1861) by Charles-François DaubignyThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Rivers of France
In 1857, Daubigny even acquired a boat he used as a studio, nicknamed 'Le Botin' (little box), which allowed him to travel and explore the rivers of France in search of inspiration for his art. Inspired by Daubigny, fellow artist Claude Monet later acquired his own studio boat.
The Thames below Westminster (about 1871) by Claude MonetThe National Gallery, London
Seeking Refuge
In 1870, the Franco-Prussian war and siege of Paris by Prussian troops spurred Daubigny and artists, including Camille Pissarro and Monet (whose own view of London is pictured), to flee France. They travelled to London in search of refuge.
Daubigny had previously made two short visits to London in 1865 and 1866. However, it was during his third and final visit to London as a refugee in October 1870 that he likely started work on what is perhaps his most iconic view of the city.
St Paul's from the Surrey Side (about 1870-3) by Charles-François DaubignyThe National Gallery, London
‘St. Paul’s from the Surrey Side’
In this oil painting, 'St. Paul's from the Surrey Side', Daubigny transports us back to 19th-century London. He places us firmly on the bustling south bank of the Thames.
It is a view that captures the unrelenting industrialisation of a growing urban landscape, shrouded under a dense blanket of fog and pollution. Daubigny presents this stifling atmosphere through his heavy use of colour – creams, beiges, greys and pinks.
Although it is likely that Daubigny started work on this view while he was in London, the painting is dated 1873, so it may have been finished after his return to France. It is thought that Daubigny painted the sky in two separate stages.
Painting Industrial London
In choosing this particular view of London, Daubigny paints some of the city's most famous historical landmarks. The composition is carefully considered, with horizontal structures positioned strikingly against the looming figure of Saint Paul's Cathedral.
Enduring Architecture
The immense shadowy cathedral emerges through a haze of dense smoke and cloud. When Daubigny visited London in 1870, the cathedral was the tallest building in the city, standing at 111m (365 feet).
An Evolving City
Daubigny's London is in an unrelenting state of movement – an evolving and growing city adapting to the changes of industrialisation.
The river Thames is a bustling site of activity, with the immediate foreground of the painting crowded with tightly packed, tethered barges.
Meanwhile, paddle steamers belch out smoke as they pass under Blackfriars Bridge and past the gas holders of the City of London Gasworks – barely visible at the very left side of the painting.
The area around Blackfriars had undergone a great deal of development by time that Daubigny arrived in London in 1870. The Blackfriars Railway Bridge (now demolished but referenced in Daubigny's 'St. Paul's from the Surrey Side') was constructed in 1864 and Blackfriars Bridge, as we know it today, had been newly constructed in 1869, just a year before Daubigny began painting this view.
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London's South Bank
While the gasworks and Blackfriars Railway Bridge were demolished in the late 19th century, St Paul's Cathedral and Blackfriars Bridge can still be seen from the river's south bank today.
St Paul's from the Surrey Side (about 1870-3) by Charles-François DaubignyThe National Gallery, London
Although Daubigny may not have been able to predict how much London would continue to evolve, his choice of view captures both the enduring and yet fleeting nature of the city's rich architectural history.
