Banks of the River Cousin
1850
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1850
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Banks of the River Cousin is a 1850 by Charles François Daubigny, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This sketch shows a quiet riverbank with tall, skinny trees on one side and a thick, dark forest on the other. The water looks calm, and the trees cast long shadows across the ground. The whole scene is drawn in soft, smudgy lines—no hard edges, just gentle shapes blending together. The artist focused on how light and shadow play across the landscape, making some areas look almost glowing. This style was new for its time, trying to show nature as it really appears, not just how it’s "supposed" to look. If you like this, check out Impressionism for more paintings that do the same thing.
