Daubigny’s Garden

You are relatively unlikely to have heard of nineteenth-century French painter Charles-Francois Daubigny. He did not find prestige important in any case. He preferred to go out into the natural world in search of the ever-changing colours of the landscape, fleeting moments that he captured in rapid strokes of paint. It made him a shining example to the generation that came after him, the impressionists. Years later a man installed himself in front of the house where the artist once lived to paint an ode to his late idol. That man was Vincent van Gogh, and he gave his painting the title ‘Daubigny’s Garden’.

In this atmospheric graphic novel, cartoonist Luc Cromheecke and scriptwriter Bruno De Roover depict brief scenes from the life of the cheerful bon vivant Daubigny. They are based on the letters he wrote to his wife or friends on his travels. The result is a wonderfully relaxing book that paints a beautiful picture of the artist as a human being.