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Charles-François Daubigny, 'Honoré Daumier', probably 1870-6, but possibly 1867-8

About the work

Portraits by Daubigny are quite rare, as he was primarily a landscape painter who was closely associated with the Barbizon group. He and Daumier, who was an artist, printmaker and caricaturist, had been friends since meeting in Paris in the 1840s. This portrait may have been painted between 1867 and 1868 when Daumier, then approaching his sixties, was staying with Daubigny in his new house at Auvers-sur-Oise – for which Daumier painted Don Quixote and the Dead Mule (Musée d’Orsay, Paris).

The portrait has been rapidly and thinly painted, especially the background. Emerging from the surrounding darkness, the face, seemingly preoccupied with thought, is painted more thickly and broadly with emphatic brushstrokes. These can also be seen in the scribbled strokes of white that form the collar and which spiral down the coat front. This technique, including the use of dark outlining strokes, particularly around the eyes and mouth, recalls Daumier’s own painting style.

Key facts

Full title
Honoré Daumier
Artist
Charles-François Daubigny
Artist dates
1817 - 1878
Date made
probably 1870-6, but possibly 1867-8
Medium and support
oil on canvas
Dimensions
76.2 × 62.9 cm
Acquisition credit
Sir Hugh Lane Bequest, 1917, The National Gallery, London. In partnership with Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin.
Inventory number
NG3245
Location
On loan: Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2019 - 2031), Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Dublin, Ireland
Collection
Main Collection
Subjects

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

More works by Charles-François Daubigny

(Showing 6 of 7 works)
Alders
Alders
Charles-François Daubigny
The stretch of water in the foreground almost certainly lies near to Daubigny’s home in Auvers-sur-Oise. Its surface is covered with vegetation, including clumps of reeds and water-lilies. A woman in a red and white hat sits at the far side, under a clump of alders. This is an evening scene, with...
Not on display
Landscape with Cattle by a Stream
Landscape with Cattle by a Stream
Charles-François Daubigny
On the left a rocky hillside leads down to grassy pasture and a river. Cart tracks run through the pasture from the front edge. Cows graze, watched by a dog, and a lone washerwoman kneels on the right bank of the river, her white linen visible in the water. The river is the Cure in the Morvan reg...
Not on display
River Scene with Ducks
River Scene with Ducks
Charles-François Daubigny
This peaceful river landscape depicts the Oise near the village of Auvers, where Daubigny built a home in 1860. At the far right, mostly hidden by a clump of trees, is Daubigny’s studio boat, nicknamed Le Botin (Little Box). It was originally a ferry boat which the artist had converted with the...
Not on display
St Paul's from the Surrey Side
St Paul's from the Surrey Side
Charles-François Daubigny
The shadowy dome of St Paul’s Cathedral is viewed from the south bank of the Thames. Just to the front of the cathedral the newly built Blackfriars Bridge straddles the river; behind it a train, invisible but for its plume of smoke, passes over Blackfriars Railway Bridge. The leaden sky is heavil...
Not on display
The Garden Wall, Auvers-sur-Oise
The Garden Wall, Auvers-sur-Oise
Charles-François Daubigny
A path runs along a white wall with a grassy common to the right. The wall features two pale brown gates. Trees behind the wall suggest a garden or orchard. The tonality is light, with the pale grey paint of the wall overlaid with small, square touches of creams, yellows and pinks, giving a sense...
Not on display
View on the Oise
View on the Oise
Charles-François Daubigny
The washerwoman at the right, a common motif in Daubigny’s river scenes, dips some blue cloth into the water. Close inspection reveals that she is kneeling in a box, commonly used by laundresses at the time to keep themselves dry and relatively comfortable. To the front of her the water is punctu...
Not on display
You've viewed 6 of 7 works