Figures on the Beach

c. 1867/1870

Eugène Boudin

Artist, French, 1824 - 1898

Twenty men, women, and children sit, stand, or stroll along a sandy beach beneath a bright, cloud-filled sky in this horizontal landscape painting. The people are small in scale within the landscape, taking up about a quarter of the canvas's height. The scene is loosely painted so many of the facial features are indistinct, but the faces we can see appear to have pale skin. Across a narrow band of sand, the women wear dresses with long sleeves, tight bodices, and ankle-length skirts in shades of baby blue, smoke gray, teal green, crimson red, gray, or tan. Three women hold parasols in shades of charcoal gray, golden yellow, or teal green. The men wear suits with long tails and rounded hats. About half the people sit in wooden chairs, and others gather in small groups. One child plays in the sand near a pair of women to the left, and another pair play on their own to the right near an empty chair. A fourth child holds the hand of a woman, and a white dog with brown spots runs across the sand closer to us. A rowboat with five people is in the water just off the beach, and a steamboat burps gray smoke to the left on the horizon, which comes less than a quarter of the way up the composition. The artist signed the painting in the lower left corner, “E. Boudin.”

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

  • Dimensions

    overall: 38.2 x 61.2 cm (15 1/16 x 24 1/8 in.)
    framed: 55.9 x 79.1 x 8.9 cm (22 x 31 1/8 x 3 1/2 in.)

  • Accession

    1983.1.12

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Alex Reid & Lefèvre, London), September 1927, possibly until 1936.[1] L. Lalo; sold 24 May 1937 to (Durand-Ruel, New York and Paris); sold 4 April 1944 to M. Enrico Donat. (Gallimard, Paris). Mme. André Simon, Paris. (Schonemann Galleries, New York).[2] (Thomas J. Gannon, Inc., New York); sold 1952 to Mr. Paul Mellon, Upperville, VA;[3] gift 1983 to NGA.
[1] List dated December 1936, in which Reid & Lefevre request a photograph of the painting from Vrancken at Bignou [their partner] of "Boudin, Personnages sur la plage (Sept 1927)" (Lefevre archives, Hyman Kreitman Research Centre, Tate Britain, London, TGA 2002/11, Box 181).
[2] Provenance according to Robert Schmit, Eugène Boudin, 1824-1898, 3 vols., Paris, 1973: 1:no. 433.
[3] Acquisition source and date according to Paul Mellon records in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1966

  • French Paintings from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and Mrs. Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, no. 12, repro.

1989

  • Impressionisti della National Gallery of Art di Washington, Ala Napoleonica e Museo Correr, Venice; Palazzo Reale, Milan, 1989, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

1990

  • Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum, Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990, no. 31, repro.

1999

  • Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 1999, no. 13, repro.

  • Around Impressionism: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1999, no cat.

2007

  • Eugène Boudin at the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2007, no cat.

  • Eugene Boudin, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 2007-2008, no cat.

Bibliography

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 64, repro.

1990

  • Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum. Exh. cat. Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990: no. 31, repro.

1991

  • Coman, Florence E. Joie de Vivre: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1991: no. 6, repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: E. Boudin

Wikidata ID

Q20188696

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