Lot Essay
Trouville is located at the mouth of the river la Touques in Normandy. It was a small, quiet village without the distinguished maritime importance of the neighbouring Honfleur or Le Harvre. From the 1820's, however, Trouville became a fashionable and elegant summer retreat of the Parisians and English people.
"Boudin's painting of the beach at Trouville, particularly those of the 1860's, helped establish his contemporary reputation, brought him some measures of financial security and, in their uniqueness, are what he is largely know for today" (V. Hamilton, Boudin at Trouville, Glasgow, 1992, p. 59). It is not known whether Boudin himself first thought of painting Trouville area as his subject or suggested by his friend Ferdinand Martin. However, Boudin returned there on a yearly basis throughout the rest of his career.
"Between 1862 and 1895 Boudin executed more than three hundred paintings, two-thirds of which are dated, showing fashionable holiday makers on the beaches of Trouville and Deauville...there are thirteen pictures dated in 1863."
The earliest beach scenes Boudin painted in oil dated from 1862 but as Boudin's working method consisted of painting outdoors during the summer and finishing the work in the winter in his Paris studio, these paintings were possibly begun in 1861. The essential elements of these compositions are established from the beginning and are then explored with infinite variety. "A large expanse of sky occupies about two-thirds of the composition with a thin band of sea,... In the middle ground, against the low horizon and often placed assymetrically, are the holidaymakers. It is in their rhythmical grouping that Boudin displays his ability to articulate space and his understanding of pictorial harmony. The frieze-like crowd is punctuated by varied groups of standing and seated figures, by children playing on the sands near watchful governesses, by fallen chairs and inquisitive dogs... the cabins, placed at varying angles, lead the viewer's eye around and through the groups. Offering shade from the sun or shelter from the wind, they also provided Boudin with opportunities for dramatic contrasts of light and shade."
In a letter to his friend Martin, Boudin wrote 'people really like my ladies on beaches, some claim that there is a gold mine there to be exploited." (op.cit., pp. 64-65)
"Boudin's painting of the beach at Trouville, particularly those of the 1860's, helped establish his contemporary reputation, brought him some measures of financial security and, in their uniqueness, are what he is largely know for today" (V. Hamilton, Boudin at Trouville, Glasgow, 1992, p. 59). It is not known whether Boudin himself first thought of painting Trouville area as his subject or suggested by his friend Ferdinand Martin. However, Boudin returned there on a yearly basis throughout the rest of his career.
"Between 1862 and 1895 Boudin executed more than three hundred paintings, two-thirds of which are dated, showing fashionable holiday makers on the beaches of Trouville and Deauville...there are thirteen pictures dated in 1863."
The earliest beach scenes Boudin painted in oil dated from 1862 but as Boudin's working method consisted of painting outdoors during the summer and finishing the work in the winter in his Paris studio, these paintings were possibly begun in 1861. The essential elements of these compositions are established from the beginning and are then explored with infinite variety. "A large expanse of sky occupies about two-thirds of the composition with a thin band of sea,... In the middle ground, against the low horizon and often placed assymetrically, are the holidaymakers. It is in their rhythmical grouping that Boudin displays his ability to articulate space and his understanding of pictorial harmony. The frieze-like crowd is punctuated by varied groups of standing and seated figures, by children playing on the sands near watchful governesses, by fallen chairs and inquisitive dogs... the cabins, placed at varying angles, lead the viewer's eye around and through the groups. Offering shade from the sun or shelter from the wind, they also provided Boudin with opportunities for dramatic contrasts of light and shade."
In a letter to his friend Martin, Boudin wrote 'people really like my ladies on beaches, some claim that there is a gold mine there to be exploited." (op.cit., pp. 64-65)