(Curatorial notes) This peaceful evening scene is based on drawings Daubigny made in 1852 at Optevoz, a town in the valley of the river Rhône that he had first visited in 1849. The painting appears to be a straightforward description of things seen. Yet Daubigny is thought to have sacrificed finish and detail in order to imbue the modest subject with a poetic effect.
One of the sketches on which this view is based is also in The Met's collection. A painting of 1857 in the Philadelphia Museum of Art shows the view in different light and from a slightly greater distance.
