Fishing Boat on the Beach
Artist
Jules Dupré
(French, 1811-1889)
CultureFrench
Dateca. 1870
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 29 x 36 1/2 in. (73.7 x 92.7 cm)
Overall, Frame: 39 x 46 1/2 in. (99.1 x 118.1 cm)
Overall, Frame: 39 x 46 1/2 in. (99.1 x 118.1 cm)
InscribedSigned.
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number77.414
Collections
Not on view
DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting. The horizon line divides the picture plane into two-thirds sky and one-third beach with a very narrow strip depicting the ocean (approximately one inch wide). The sand is a neutral beige/gray and there is a large boat, nearly centered on the canvas. It is beached, leaning to one side. There is a shallow pool in the foreground reflecting part of the boat. The sky is pale and filled with billowing cumulous clouds. There are two more ships on the sea in the distance.Label TextJules Dupré French, 1811–1889 Fishing Boat on the Beach, ca. 1870 Oil on canvas Jules Dupré’s subject—a fishing boat beached at low tide—was a staple of 19th-century French marine painting. Consider Eugène Boudin’s treatment of a similar subject on the wall to your right. Unlike Boudin’s well-attended fleet of fishing craft, the lone boat shown here seems abandoned and forlorn. Artists have long used sailing ships to symbolize the human soul voyaging on the sea of life. Perhaps this ragged, stranded craft evokes an aspect of the human condition: our helplessness against the forces of nature. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 77.414 Exhibition History"Barbizon - School of Nature," Haus Der Kunst, Munich, Germany, February 3 - April 21, 1996.
