Artwork
Apple Blossoms
Apple Blossoms is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Charles François Daubigny. It dates from 1873 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Charles-François Daubigny's 1873 oil painting, Apple Blossoms, functions as a landscape study focused on the natural world.
Charles-François Daubigny's 1873 oil painting, Apple Blossoms, functions as a landscape study focused on the natural world. The work explicitly depicts trees and apples, capturing a specific moment within an orchard setting. As a piece classified within the landscape genre, the subject matter centers on the direct observation of flora rather than constructed narrative or complex allegory.
The available records identify the visual components strictly as botanical elements, specifically apple trees and their fruit, situated within a broader environmental context. Consequently, the painting represents a straightforward engagement with nature, documenting the appearance of apple blossoms and their surrounding foliage without indicated symbolic layering beyond the literal presence of the trees and fruit themselves.
Technique & Style
Apple Blossoms is executed in oil paint on canvas, a standard support for Daubigny's plein air practice. The canvas measures 58.7 by 84.8 centimeters, establishing a horizontal landscape format suited to the broad depiction of a flowering orchard. The work is classified as a landscape painting and depicts trees and apple blossoms within a natural setting.
As an oil sketch from 1873, it likely reflects Daubigny's characteristic loose, rapid handling of paint designed to capture transient atmospheric and seasonal effects outdoors. The painting is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where its condition has been preserved as part of the institution's holdings.
History & Provenance
Apple Blossoms is an oil-on-canvas landscape by Charles François Daubigny dated 1873. The painting entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains held. No information on a commissioning party, prior owners, or intermediate ownership transfers is documented in the available sources, nor is the precise month of execution or circumstances of its creation specified beyond the year 1873.
Charles-François Daubigny's 1873 oil painting Apple Blossoms is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work, which depicts apple trees within a landscape setting, measures 58.7 cm in height and 84.8 cm in width. While the artwork is confirmed to be part of the museum's holdings, the provided sources do not specify a unique inventory or accession number for this piece.
Furthermore, the available documentation does not contain details regarding the painting's specific exhibition history or past display locations within the institution.
Overview
Charles-François Daubigny, a French painter associated with the Barbizon school, created Apple Blossoms in 1873. This oil painting captures an orchard in full bloom, showcasing the artist's characteristic approach to natural landscapes. The work is part of the collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, representing a key moment in the transition towards Impressionism.
Context
As a prominent figure of the Barbizon school, Charles-François Daubigny was instrumental in shifting artistic focus towards direct landscape observation. His innovative printmaking and painterly style, evident in works like Apple Blossoms, emphasized natural scenes over idealized compositions. This dedication to capturing atmospheric conditions and the changing qualities of light established him as an important precursor to the Impressionist movement.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Charles-François Daubigny ( DOH-bin-yee, US: DOH-been-YEE, doh-BEEN-yee, French:; 15 February 1817 – 19 February 1878) was a French painter, one of the members of the Barbizon school, and is considered an important precursor of…
