Daubigny’s art was based on a direct observation of nature, and sunsets were one of his favorite phenomena to capture. The melancholy of this little picture is typical of the many small works that Daubigny produced for the Parisian art market and which were extremely popular with British collectors in the late nineteenth century. Daubigny was an important precursor of Impressionism and advised and befriended a number of these artists, in particular Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro whom he introduced to the dealer Durand-Ruel.