Charles-Francois Daubigny (Paris 1817-1870), one of the best-known painters of the School of Barbizon, much admired by Vincent van Gogh, moved to Auvers around 1860. In 1860 he had a house built by Achille Oudinot in Auvers 'aux vallées'. The house became a meeting-point for many artists. In 1886 Daubigny's son Karl-Pierre, also an artist, died here. At the time of Van Gogh’s arrival, Daubigny's widow still occupied their house. Daubigny’s property included a large garden which Van Gogh would eventually paint a number of times. This impressionistic view depicts only a small part of the enclosure, and is a study for two larger paintings he later made of the whole terrain. He made a little sketch of it for Theo, with a description: “In the foreground green and pink grass […]. In the centre a rose bush, to the right a little gate […] [and] a row of yellow lindens. The house itself is in the background, pink with a roof of bluish tiles.” (http://www.tfsimon.com/auvers-sur-oise.html)