Haystacks by moonlight

Daubigny's Haystacks by Moonlight (1875) exemplifies his interest in nocturnal and twilight effects that extended the Barbizon tradition into new atmospheric territory. Moonlit landscapes had a long tradition in northern European painting from Ruisdael to Constable, but Daubigny brought to the subject his characteristic directness and compositional simplicity — haystacks in a field, familiar agricultural forms transformed by nocturnal light into something mysterious and poetic. The painting was part of the Mesdag Collection, and the Dutch marine painter Mesdag clearly recognized in Daubigny a kindred spirit in the pursuit of atmospheric truth.

The challenge of moonlit painting — conveying darkness while maintaining sufficient light to read the scene — is met through careful tonal management, with the pale moon-illuminated surfaces of the haystacks emerging from the deep blue-grey of the night sky and shadow. Daubigny's touch is measured and deliberate, the tonalities subtly graded.