Charles François Daubigny was a landscape painter who believed in painting strictly from observation and gave importance to the depiction of natural light. He first studied with his father, classical landscape painter Edmond François Daubigny, before continuing his studies with Paul Delaroche. Above all, Daubigny espoused the methods and works of the French Barbizon School, which privileged working en plein air. Daubigny preferred painting river scenes with banks and ducks, which he painted from his studio boat, nicknamed Le Botin, or Little Box. During these travels, his initially restrained style became looser and more rapidly applied. It was said that the number of ducks in Daubigny’s river scenes corresponded with the artist’s opinion of the work, and that he added more ducks to the paintings he considered strongest.