Daubigny made regular visits to Barbizon, on the edge of the Forest of Fontainebleau, from 1843 onwards. He was a friend of most of the artists who became known as the Barbizon School, including Théodore Rousseau, Constant Troyon, Narcisse Diaz de la Peña and Jean-François Millet. These artists rejected the tradition of historical landscape, focusing on nature for its own sake and painting in front of the motif. Daubigny was an important precursor of Impressionism and one of the earliest landscapists to paint in the open air. He also encouraged the young Impressionists Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro