Return of the Terre-Neuvier

1875

Eugène Boudin

Artist, French, 1824 - 1898

A two-masted ship with sails furled has been pulled onto a beach as dozens of people bustle on and around it in this horizontal landscape painting. The scene is loosely painted and many details are indistinct throughout. The ship dominates the right half of the composition, listing slightly to the left as the bow lodges in the sand. People working on the deck pass crates and goods down to others standing on a ladder or horse-drawn carriage pulled up alongside the hull. The women wear long brown, gray, or dark blue skirts, shawls in shades of golden yellow, marigold orange, dusky pink, or muted green, and white headdresses. The men’s clothing is earth brown and gray, and a few wear brick-red caps. Three women and perhaps a child sit or stand to or right next to a line of goods in bundles, baskets, and crates that separate us from the line of activity closer to the shore. The horizon comes about a third of the way up the composition, and the ship’s masts thrust into a sky nearly filled with slate-gray clouds. A couple patches of vivid blue line the top of the painting, and white streaks in the distance to the left suggest sunlight pouring through another break in the clouds. The artist inscribed the site in the lower left corner, “Portrieux” and signed and dated the painting in the lower right corner, “E Boudin 1875.”

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 73.5 x 100.7 cm (28 15/16 x 39 5/8 in.)
    framed: 96.5 x 123.2 cm (38 x 48 1/2 in.)

  • Accession

    1963.10.87

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(sale, James P. Silo, New York, 19 February 1927, no. 441); purchased by Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York;[1] bequest 1963 to NGA.
[1] Provenance according to copies of Chester Dale papers in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1929

  • Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings by Eugène Boudin, Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, 1929, no. 26.

1965

  • The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

1989

  • Paintings by Eugène Boudin from the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1989, no cat.

2007

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

Bibliography

1942

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 30, repro.

1944

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1944: 30, repro.

1953

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1953: 39, repro.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 323, repro.

1965

  • Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 62, repro.

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 19.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 11, repro.

1973

  • Schmit, Robert. Eugéne Boudin, 1824-1898. 3 vols. Paris, 1973: no. 1064.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 40, repro.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 443, no. 630, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 60, repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: Portrieux..; lower right: E Boudin / 1875.

Wikidata ID

Q20188798

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