Boudin, a native of Honfleur, began painting scenes of fashionable beach resorts along the Normandy coast in the early 1860s. In a letter of 1863, the year in which this view of the beach at Trouville was painted, the artist acknowledged the popularity of his paintings of "little ladies on the beach," adding that "some people say that in them there lies a vein of gold to be exploited."
On the Beach at Trouville reflects Boudin's interest in capturing the effects of light and atmosphere, from the flag and the crinoline fluttering in the stiff breeze to the cool gray light of the overcast sky. Painted in his studio, the work was likely based on studies made on-site. The artist often annotated such studies with the date, time of day, and wind conditions.
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Inscription: Signed and dated (lower right): E. Boudin.63
[Tempelaere, Paris, by 1899–at least 1900]; Amelia B. Lazarus, New York (by 1902–d. 1907)
Paris. Ecole des Beaux-Arts. "Exposition des oeuvres d'Eugène Boudin," January 9–30, 1899, no. 122 (as "Trouville, sur la plage," lent by M. Tempelaere).
Paris. Bernheim-Jeune. "Exposition Eugène Boudin," November 12–30, 1900, no. 103 (as "Trouville; la plage," lent by Monsieur Tempelaere).
Art Institute of Chicago. "Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Eugène Boudin," December 19, 1935–January 19, 1936, no. 2.
Kansas City, Mo. William Rockhill Nelson Gallery. "Exhibition of French Impressionist Landscape Painting," November 29–December 30, 1936, no. 11.
Nashville. Fisk University. "100 Years of European Painting," April 28–June 10, 1965, unnum. checklist.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Impressionist Epoch," December 12, 1974–February 10, 1975, not in catalogue.
Little Rock. Arkansas Arts Center. "Art and the White House: Presidential Selections 1960–2000," November 19, 2004–January 23, 2005, unnum. brochure.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920," February 4–May 6, 2007, no. 33.
Berlin. Neue Nationalgalerie. "Französische Meisterwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts aus dem Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 1–October 7, 2007, unnumbered cat.
Ruth L. Benjamin. Eugène Boudin. New York, 1937, p. 188, ill. p. 113, as "Bathing Scene".
Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 11.
Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 2, XIX Century. New York, 1966, pp. 135–36, ill.
Margaretta M. Salinger. "Windows Open to Nature." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 27 (Summer 1968), unpaginated, ill.
Robert Schmit. Eugène Boudin, 1824–1898. Paris, 1973, vol. 1, p. 86, no. 271, ill.
, calls it "Trouville. Crinolines sur la plage".
Jean Selz. E. Boudin. New York, 1982, pp. 18, 61, ill. (color).
Robert Schmit. Eugène Boudin, 1824–1898. Vol. 1, Premier supplément. Paris, 1984, p. 134, no. 271.
Charles S. Moffett. Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1985, pp. 10, 16–17, ill. (color, overall and detail).
Robert Schmit and Manuel Schmit. Eugène Boudin, 1824–1898. Vol. 2, Deuxième supplément. Paris, 1993, p. 197, no. 271.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 433, ill.
Kathryn Calley Galitz inThe Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. New York, 2007, pp. 54, 182, no. 33, ill. (color and black and white).
Kathryn Calley Galitz inMasterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 84, 215, no. 78, ill. (color and black and white).
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