Artwork
Landscape with Gleaners
Landscape with Gleaners is an oil painting by the Barbizon school artist Charles François Daubigny. It dates from 1850 and is held in the collection of the Walters Art Museum.
About this work
Overview
Created circa 1850 by French painter Charles‑François Daubigny, *Landscape with Gleaners* is an oil on canvas that depicts a quiet rural scene. The work belongs to the landscape genre and is part of the Walters Art Museum’s collection. It reflects Daubigny’s affiliation with the Barbizon school and his interest in portraying natural light and atmosphere.
Subject & Meaning
The composition presents a gently rolling countryside where a small group of figures works in a field, gathering the remnants of the harvest. Distant hills, scattered trees, and modest buildings frame the activity, suggesting a harmonious relationship between people and the land. The painting conveys a tranquil, agrarian rhythm, emphasizing the modest labor that sustains rural life.
Technique & Style
Daubigny employs a palette of warm earth tones contrasted with soft greens, rendered with loose, expressive brushwork that suggests movement within the foliage and sky. The handling of light captures the fleeting quality of the scene, while the relatively broad strokes convey an atmospheric depth characteristic of the Barbizon approach, anticipating later Impressionist concerns.
History & Provenance
After its execution around the mid‑19th century, the canvas entered private collections before being acquired by the Walters Art Museum, where it remains on view. The painting illustrates Daubigny’s role as a bridge between the realist landscape tradition of the Barbizon school and the emerging Impressionist movement.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Charles-François Daubigny ( DOH-bin-yee, US: DOH-been-YEE, doh-BEEN-yee, French: ; 15 February 1817 – 19 February 1878) was a French painter, one of the members of the Barbizon school, and is considered an important precursor of…
