Entrance to the Harbor, Le Havre

1883

Eugène Boudin

Associated Names
Eugène Boudin

Artist, French, 1824 - 1898

The painting depicts a harbor scene with several large ships and smaller boats on a wide waterway. To the left and right of center, two large ships are visible, each with multiple tall masts and several sails. The boat on the left appears to fly a flag that has white and red stripes and a section of dark blue. A small rowboat is positioned in the water by this ship, and it appears to have several indistinct people on it. To the left, a plume of gray smoke rises from low gray buildings. On the right, more people in rowboats appear to head towards a line of tall buildings in the distance. The sky is painted with soft brushstrokes in shades of light blue and grey, with hints of pale yellow at the center of the painting by the horizon. Some gray clouds drift across the sky. The water reflects these colors as well as the gray ships. Overall, the color palette is mostly light blue and shades of gray. The brushstrokes are visible, and details in the distance are suggested with minimal lines of paint.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

  • Dimensions

    overall: 118.6 x 160.2 cm (46 11/16 x 63 1/16 in.)
    framed: 142.9 x 192.7 cm (56 1/4 x 75 7/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1983.1.16

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Duneau, Paris; sold 1902 to (Durand-Ruel, New York and Paris),[1] until at least 1940;[2] Stanley N. Barbee, New York; (Barbee sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 20 April 1944, no. 30); purchased by Coblentz, USA.[3] (Wildenstein, London, New York and Paris); sold 1962 to Mr. Paul Mellon, Upperville;[4] gift 1983 to NGA.
[1]Name of seller and date of sale to Durand-Ruel according to Robert Schmidt, Eugene Boudin (3 vols., Paris 1973), II:no. 1723 [2]Lent by Durand-Ruel to 1940 Golden Gate International Exhibition. [3]Name of purchaser according to annotated copy of sales catalogue in M. Knoelder & Co. library. [4]According to Paul Mellon records in NGA curatorial files

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1883

  • Possibly Salon of 1883, Paris, no. 321, as La Sortie

1905

  • Pictures by Boudin, Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Grafton Galleries, London, 1905, probably no. 3, as Leaving Port - Havre

1926

  • Exposition de Tableaux par Boudin, Galeries Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1926-1927, no. 9, as Sortie du port du Havre.

1932

  • Possibly Nineteenth Century French Art, Albright Art Gallery, 1932, no. 1.

1935

  • Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Eugene Boudin, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1935-1936, no. 12, as Havre Harbor; Outward Bound.

1936

  • Eugene Boudin, Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, 1936, no. 9, as Sortie du port du Havre.

1940

  • Golden Gate International Exhibition, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, 1940, no. 232, as Port of Havre.

1986

  • Capolavori Impressionisti dei Musei Americani, Museo e Gallerie Nazionali di Capodimonte, Naples; Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, 1986-1987, no. 1, repro.

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.

  • 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: 65, repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: E. Boudin / Le Havre 83

Wikidata ID

Q20189593

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