Landscape with a Sunlit Stream 1877

Charles-François Daubigny painted "Landscape with a Sunlit Stream" using oil on canvas, a material historically associated with fine art. But in the mid-19th century, when Daubigny was working, new industrial processes made both canvas and pigments more readily available. This directly influenced the kind of art being made. Just think of the labor involved: from the cultivation of flax for linen canvas, to the grinding and mixing of pigments. As these processes became more efficient, artists could focus less on the labor of material preparation and more on direct engagement with their subjects. Here, Daubigny has used these materials to capture a fleeting moment of light and atmosphere. The fluidity of the oil paint allowed him to create soft, blurred edges and subtle gradations of color, conveying a sense of the natural world’s constant flux. So, next time you see an Impressionist landscape, remember that its seemingly effortless beauty is deeply connected to changes in labor, production and consumption that were happening at the time.