Galerie Dreyfus
7
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EUGÈNE BOUDIN (HONFLEUR, 1824 – DEAUVILLE, 1898)
Dordrecht, …
See original version (French)
7
-
EUGÈNE BOUDIN (HONFLEUR, 1824 – DEAUVILLE, 1898)
Dordrecht, …
See original version (French)
Estimate €92,000 - €115,000
Voluntary lot
Description
EUGÈNE BOUDIN
(HONFLEUR, 1824 – DEAUVILLE, 1898)
Dordrecht, The Meuse
1884
Oil on canvas
45 x 65 cm.
Signed and dated lower right
Much like a Dutch seascape, this landscape presents us with a sky that appears to be the
main subject, such is its dominant presence in the composition. Indeed, nearly
three-quarters of the painting is devoted to this mottled sky with its wispy clouds, so
characteristic of Eugène Boudin. In perfect chromatic harmony, they blend into
rather than reflect upon the Meuse flowing below. On the horizon, only a narrow
strip of land separates them, widening on either side in accordance with the laws of perspective.
Whilst, on the right, a few trees evoke nature, on the left the riverbank is more built-up,
suggesting the outskirts of a harbour. It is this obstructed horizon that allows us to understand
that this is a river whose bends conceal its mouth, even though it is nearby.
The three masts silhouetted against the horizon, like so many ridges, bear witness to
maritime traffic of which the foreground seemed unaware... The boat heading towards us
contrasts in size with the harbour activity in the background. It allows us to imagine the boat in which
the painter might have been standing to paint this landscape. The fact that it is perfectly centred suggests,
in fact, that the artist painted it whilst on board a vessel. This seascape is not without
reminding us of the one painted two centuries earlier by the Dutch painter Albert Cuyp and now held
at the J. Paul Getty Museum. Beyond the predominance of the sky, it is also this
centred composition, with the more discreet presence in Boudin’s work of a boat as an axis of
symmetry. It was during his travels in the Netherlands that Boudin became familiar with the masters
of the Dutch Golden Age, whose works he had already admired at the Louvre, notably
another view of the Meuse at Dordrecht, this time by Van Goyen. This stay in the Netherlands proved to be
a highly fruitful source of inspiration for this plein air painter, who recognised in the
Dutch skies the atmosphere of his own Normandy skies, with their washed-out hues.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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