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Drawing, Musée du Louvre
rf5328
Etching, Delteil
111
12
.
Le Bateau Atelier
The Studio on the Boa
t
Pen and ink on
papier calque
,
4
1
⁄
2
by
6
3
⁄
8
inches (
11
.
4
by
16
.
3
cm)
This is the most memorable image in
Le Voyage en Bateau
album. It makes several
statements about the artist’s objectives in painting from a boat. By painting from
the moored
Botin,
Daubigny could create more interesting compositions and
better observe the light and the landscape from dawn to dusk. In the etching,
Daubigny hid messages inscribed on the back of the canvases stacked on the
right side of the composition. “
Le travail tient l’âme en joie
” (“Work makes the
soul joyous”) gives us insight into Daubigny’s working habits;
7
Realisme
may be
a response to critics who praised Daubigny’s skillful rendering of water. In fact,
the cartoonist Félix Nadar, who purchased Daubigny’s
1859
painting
Les Bords
de l’Oise
(now in Bordeaux) made a cartoon that year showing a man standing in
front of it at the Salon. The man had taken off his clothes and was in his shorts,
preparing to dive into the picture for a swim.
7
Henriet, 1862