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Figures on the Beach

(French, 1824–1898)
1893
Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas
Dimensions36.5 x 59.1 cm (14 3/8 x 23 1/4 in.)
Credit LineBequest of William A. Coolidge
Accession number1993.32
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsPaintings
Collections
Description
Bathers wade at low tide on a Normandy beach—their parasols and hitched skirts conjured with a few deft dots of paint. Diagonal strokes at the horizon line indicate wind and rain—a storm is fast approaching. Boudin’s treatment of mercurial light and weather effects and the bold spontaneity of pictures like this one provided a source of inspiration for Claude Monet, a fellow native of Honfleur.
InscriptionsSigned and dated lower left: E. Boudin. 9[3?]
ProvenanceAnonymous collection, France; December 2-3, 1952, "La Princesse de X..." and others sale, Paris, Galerie Charpentier, lot 33. Allard et Noël, Paris [see note 1]. By 1975, Antique Porcelain Company, New York (stock no. 11638); October 10, 1975, sold by the Antique Porcelain Company to William Appleton Coolidge (b. 1901 - d. 1992), Topsfield and Cambridge, MA; 1993, bequest of William Appleton Coolidge to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 27, 1993)

NOTES:
[1] According to Robert Schmit, "Eugène Boudin, 1824 - 1898" (Paris, 1973), vol. 2, p. 390, cat. no. 2338. Whether the gallery purchased the painting at the 1952 sale has not been determined.

Seascape, River Pilots
Eugène Louis Boudin
Quay at Villefranche
Eugène Louis Boudin
1892
Harbor Entrance
Eugène Louis Boudin
1873
Port of Le Havre
Eugène Louis Boudin
about 1886
The Inlet at Berck (Pas-de-Calais)
Eugène Louis Boudin
1882
Deauville at Low Tide
Eugène Louis Boudin
1897
Juan-les-pins, the Bay and the Shore
Eugène Louis Boudin
1893
Beach Scene with Figures
Eugène Louis Boudin
Ships at Le Havre
Eugène Louis Boudin
1887
Harbor Scene
Eugène Louis Boudin
Washerwomen near a Bridge
Eugène Louis Boudin
1883