Daubigny, Charles-François [key], 1817–78, French landscape painter. He went to Italy early in life and later studied in Paris with Paul Delaroche. Although usually classed with the Barbizon school, he never lived in Barbizon. His last 30 years were spent largely in his houseboat on the Seine and the Oise, and he is best known for his pictures of the banks of those rivers. He was particularly successful in his atmospheric depiction of dawn, twilight, and moonlight. His innovative later pictures depict natural light through color, using light reflected from surfaces to create effects of space; he often applied wet paint on wet paint and used new synthetic pigments. The paintings are now considered forerunners of impressionism. Monet and Boudin were especially attentive to his work. Daubigny's work is well represented in the Louvre, the Mesdag Collection (The Hague), the National Gallery (London), and the Metropolitan Museum. Characteristic are his Moonrise at Auvers (or Return of the Flock) and Moonlight. His son Karl Pierre Daubigny, 1846–86, painted in his father's manner.
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