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The Marsh

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Scan the low horizon from tree to tree, then look for thin reeds interrupting their reflections in the foreground water.

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Daubigny’s 1871 marsh is organized in broad horizontal layers: water, a low strip of land, and open sky. The few taller trees interrupt that quiet structure without closing the view. Reflections make land and water resemble one another, while the fine upright reeds distinguish the nearest shallows.

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Oil on panel · 34.4 × 58.2 cm · Art Institute of Chicago · Barbizon School

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Details and source

Museum title
The Marsh
Artist
Charles François Daubigny (French, 1817–1878)
Date
1871
Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
34.4 × 58.2 cm (13 9/16 × 22 15/16 in.); Framed: 46.4 × 70.2 × 5.1 cm (18 1/4 × 27 5/8 × 2 in.)
Credit line
Henry Field Memorial Collection
Image license
CC0 1.0 · Public domain
Museum record
Art Institute of Chicago

Artist’s life 1817–1878

Barbizon School c. 1830–1870

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Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.

The Marsh · Charles François Daubigny, 1871
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The Marsh, Charles François Daubigny

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