The Hamlet of Optevoz

In the pictureOn tan paper, three or four low gabled cottages and two great masses of trees behind them are drawn in charcoal. The sky is filled with layer upon layer of long horizontal charcoal strokes, and white paint is dabbed over it at left and right to make a few clouds. The cottage on the right has a few small windows, and thin tree trunks stand beside it. In the pond in front, the shadows of the cottages and trees are reflected in vertical hatching, and the grass at the water's edge is done in short vertical lines. In the lower right corner there is a small red mark.

BackgroundOptevoz is a small village in the Isère region east of Lyon, a place Charles-François Daubigny (1817–1878) visited several times in the early 1850s to draw the village and its ponds. This drawing appears to have been a quick capture of forms on the spot around 1852, and it measures 37.8×62.8cm, more than 60cm wide. The only materials are charcoal and lead white (a white paint containing lead), and the tan of the paper serves as the middle tone. Daubigny is also famous for later fitting out a boat as a studio and painting as he traveled along rivers. It was acquired through the Rogers Fund in 1912.

Puzzle tipThe brightness divides into three: tan paper, dark areas of charcoal and white cloud dabs. Fit the two darkest masses of trees in the middle and the rooflines of the cottages first, then place one white cloud at left and one at right to set the height of the sky. The sky is horizontal hatching and the pond's reflections are vertical hatching, so the direction of the lines alone separates top from bottom. Because the drawing is wide, the pieces are flat; 48 pieces is about right.