Like Boudin, Daubigny often worked en plein air – outside directly from nature. He often painted from his 'botin', a floating studio which he launched in 1857. This studio-boat allowed him to move freely, to choose original points of view, and to work from sunrise to sunset, while protecting him from the rain and from the sun. As he strove to capture transient effects of light and atmosphere, his brushwork gradually became more direct, quick and free, and his palette lightened.

Daubigny provided a vital link between the Barbizon artists and the young Impressionists. Abandoning academically accepted landscapes with their historical, nostalgic or dramatic subjects, Daubigny preferred to paint quiet river scenes empty of incident.