Click on title to see the whole post

August 29: Boudin the bold


When I think of Eugene Boudin (1824-98) it’s usually in connection with his lively and elegant scenes of vacationers on the coast.

Boudin-Beach at Trouville '64-5 [?]

These pieces are remarkable for their inventive groupings of costumes and furniture running tightly along the band of the sea, pressed between a glorious sky and a vacant foreground, with near and far artfully stitched together by those crafty flagpoles.

But Boudin is also remarkable for his striking, near-abstract studies, like this nocturne of a harbor

Boudin "moon" c.1875 [W'pedia]
Boudin “moon” c.1875 [W’pedia]
Monet "Impression, sunrise" 1872   [W'ped]
Monet “Impression, sunrise” 1872 [W’ped]
 

Indeed, the Boudin stands up very well to Claude Monet’s earlier take on a very similar subject.

Monet gets the fame, because his title, “Impression, sunrise” was what gave the Impressionists their name.

But for daring near-abstraction it’s hard to beat Boudin.

 

 

 

Boudin "study of sky" c.1888    [W'ped}
Boudin “study of sky” c.1888 [W’ped}