Washerwoman near Trouville

c. 1872/1876

Eugène Boudin

Associated Names
Eugène Boudin

Artist, French, 1824 - 1898

The painting features a sandy shore and a calm sea with sailing boats in the distance. At the bottom of the painting, people sit on the sand by the water. Brown rocks are interspersed with the tan sand shore, which takes up the bottom edge of the painting and curves up to the right side. On the blue water beyond the shore, sailboats dot the low horizon. Those closer to us are more distinct, while some in the distance are barely visible. On the left side of the painting, another stretch of tan sands juts into the water, and a sailboat sits on it, leaning to one side. The sky occupies the top half of the image, and it is filled with billowy white clouds. The brushstrokes in the painting are visible, especially those in the sand and water.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on wood

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

  • Dimensions

    overall: 27.6 × 41.3 cm (10 7/8 × 16 1/4 in.)
    framed: 46.04 × 60.64 × 8.26 cm (18 1/8 × 23 7/8 × 3 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1983.1.15

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Boudin sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 28 February 1877, no. 9).[1] Hutinel, Paris M. Laisné; consigned 1962 to (Hector Brame, Paris);[2] sold 1962 to Mr. Paul Mellon, Upperville, VA; gift 1983 to NGA.
[1]According to Robert Schmit, Eugene Boudin, 1984, vol I: no. 840. However, copies of two sales catalogues from this date at the Frick Art Reference Library does not include any Boudins. [2]See letter from Philippe Brame, dated 8 June 1999, in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1979

  • 19th and 20th Century French Painting from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1979 (long term exhibition), checklist no. 3

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.

2011

  • Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The National Art Center, Tokyo; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, 2011, not in catalogue (shown only in Toyko and Kyoto).

2013

  • Intimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art, Museo dell'Ara Pacis Augustae, Rome (exhibition title in this venue: Impressionist Gems); California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, Seattle Art Museum, 2013-2016, pl. 13.

2024

  • L'impressionnisme et la mer [Impressionism and the Sea], Musée des impressionnismes Giverny, 2024, no. 49, repro.

Bibliography

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 65, repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: E. Boudin

Wikidata ID

Q20188760

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