This print was made a year before Daubigny’s death in 1878. A peasant figure makes a path through the landscape equipped with tools for the cultivation of nature. The scene depicts a harmonious partnership between rural inhabitants and their surroundings. Daubigny chose to represent countryside over urban life throughout his career. Daubigny’s depictions of country life may have influenced artists associated with Impressionism during this period. This print was published in 1878 in a volume of ‘Modern Etchings’ managed by Célonie Sophie, the widow of Alfred Cadart (1828 - 1875), a Parisian publisher who founded the Society of Etchers in 1862. Cadart employed artists for his ambitious project, ‘Modern Etchings’, which saw sixty new etchings published annually. Apple Tree at Auvers was typical of the series, which included many prints by landscape painters. Cadart’s project was a significant part of the etching revival, which embraced the medium in reaction to the negative associations of lithography and engraving with industry and mass production. He advocated that etching, which involves sketching on a wax ground instead of incising into a copperplate, more closely resembled drawing through connecting with the artist’s hand.

Inscriptions / Translations:  Daubigny. del. et sc.
Vve. A. Cadart, Edit Imp. 56 Bard, Haussmann, Paris.

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