Hippolyte Camille Delpy was born in Joigny, France in 1842, and was a student of the Barbizon painter Charles Francois Daubigny. It was Daubigny, a friend of the family, who took the young Camille along with him on his strolls. The child saw Daubigny paint and admired his creations, and from that point on, his only aspiration was to become a painter. In Paris, Daubigny introduced his young pupil to Camille Corot, another famed Barbizon painter, who later admitted Delpy into his studio.

In 1869, Delpy began to exhibit at the Salon. During this time, he also traveled extensively throughout the provinces, especially visiting Corot in Ville d'Avray, and Daubigny in Auvers-sur-Oise. In the 1870s, Delpy met Camille Pissarro and Paul Cezanne, who had a great impact on Delpy's use of color, at Auvers. Although he remained faithful to the technique of Daubigny, Delpy's interaction with these avant-garde painters brought a more vigorous touch and a greater intensity of color to his work.