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an old picture of a picture of a lake in a framedrawing of a landscape with trees and a body of waterdrawing of a boat in a body of water with a sky in the backgrounda picture of an old suitcase sitting on a shelf
VICHY ENCHERES

92 - Eugène BOUDIN (1824–1898), attributed to. ‘Landscape by the …
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Estimate €300 - €350
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Description
Eugène BOUDIN (1824–1898), attributed to. ‘Landscape by the Water’ Pencil drawing on paper, attributed to the artist by a cartouche on the mat, mounted under glass. Image size: 14.5 x 21 cm; Including frame: 27.5 x 33 cm. Slight signs of damp The drawing depicts a stretch of water bordered by a shore where a few stakes protrude from the sand. The eye is immediately drawn to the vast sky, rendered in broad hatching that conveys the movement of the clouds and the variations in light. The sheet contains several handwritten notes, such as ‘ripples’, ‘wind’ and ‘sea’, recording the weather conditions observed at the time of creation. This focus on atmospheric phenomena is, of course, one of the defining features of Eugène Boudin’s work. Related work: Le Havre. Sunset on the Shore, c. 1885–1890, oil on canvas, 55 × 75 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Saint-Lô (Robert Schmit, Eugène Boudin. 1824–1898, vol. II, Paris, 1973, no. 2008). https://collections.musees-normandie.fr/ark:/16418/msl1112862/v0001.simple.selectedTab=thumbn This drawing bears a particularly striking resemblance to this canvas by Boudin. Both works feature a very similar composition, centred on a vast expanse of water dominated by a sky that occupies most of the picture plane, whilst a strip of land juts out to the right, punctuated by stakes driven into the foreshore. These are likely to be guide poles, used to secure coastal fishing nets, the depiction of which constitutes a characteristic topographical detail. Research carried out in 2016 at the municipal archives of Le Havre led the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Saint-Lô to reconsider the traditional location of this painting: as fishing using guide poles had disappeared from Le Havre’s beaches by the 1850s, though it continued to be practised on the Lower Normandy coast until the end of the 19th century, the scene more likely depicts the Seine estuary, between Honfleur and Villerville. This reinterpretation also sheds light on our drawing, whose topographical features appear to fit within this same coastal landscape. Provenance: the collection of Maurice Guyot (1884–1974), Secretary-General of the Victor Hugo Foundation. This drawing comes from the collection of Maurice Guyot (1884–1974), Secretary-General of the Victor Hugo Foundation, an art collector and a prominent figure in post-war French cultural life. The significance of this provenance also lies in the close ties that Maurice Guyot maintained with Honfleur and the Normandy art scene. In September 1956, he founded the Society of Friends of the Honfleur Municipal Museum, which he chaired upon its establishment. The aim of this association was to support the museum’s development and enrich its collections; a few years later, in 1960, the institution officially took the name Musée Eugène-Boudin. Maurice Guyot also belonged to the circle of the painter Jean Dries (1905–1973), who painted his portrait in Honfleur. A leading figure in Honfleur’s artistic renaissance, Dries wrote the preface in 1956 to the catalogue for the exhibition *Les Boudin* at the Honfleur Municipal Museum, organised at the Katia Granoff Gallery in Paris, before becoming curator of the Eugène-Boudin Museum a few years later. Both men were thus part of the same movement to rediscover and promote the work of Eugène Boudin in the 1950s and 1960s. https://vichy-encheres.com/2026/06/26/victor-hugo/
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About the sale BEAUTIFUL LIVE SALE OF PAINTINGS, FURNITURE & OBJETS D'ART
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Auction time 08/13/2026 at 1:45 PM
Ref. : 4062 - 4
Lot description modified on 07/20/2026 at 9:40 AM
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