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Artist or Maker: 1824-1898
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Dimensions: 28.8 by 47.7cm.
11 3/8 by 18 3/4in.
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Provenance: THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
Jean Ventadour, Paris (Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 11th April 1874, lot 11)
N. G. Stevens (Sale: Christie's, London, 14th June 1912, lot 97)
M. Tempelaere, Paris (purchased at the above sale)
Mlle Hecht, Paris
Bernheim-Jeune, Paris (acquired from the above on 5th April 1929)
Mr Elwood B. Hosmer, Montreal (acquired from the above on 7th June 1929)
Private Collection
Thence by descent to the present owner
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Literature: Robert Schmit, Eugène Boudin, Paris, 1973, vol. I, p. 188, no. 507, illustrated
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Notes: Boudin spent much of his life in his native province of Normandy, and the inspiration he found in the beaches and harbours there sustained his long career as an artist. By the mid-1800s, the seaside resort of Trouville had become a fashionable summer retreat for the French aristocracy, and Boudin soon turned his attention to the activities of these privileged vacationers. According to Ruth Benjamin, 'He sought to please those patrons of art on whom he depended for a living. And so began his series of Trouville beach scenes - a mirror of elegant society during a period of thirty years. How modern they are, how alive, despite the old-fashioned costumes' (R. J. Benjamin, Eugène Boudin, New York, 1937, p. 49).
Scène de plage à Trouville is an excellent example of the artist's confident brushwork and mature style. As in many of his paintings, Boudin has dedicated half this composition to a vast sky, its subtle nuances and neutral tones serving to emphasise the proximity of the figures below. As his fellow Impressionist, Gustave Courbet, exclaimed: "My God, you are a seraph, Boudin! You are the only one of us who really knows the sky" (quoted in ibid., p. 46). Boudin's ability to capture the fleeting effects of sunlight on sumptuous fabrics, and his bold use of distinct planes to convey perspective are testaments to his dedication and foresight as an artist.
