Scanned from a slide. Color corrected by Pat Cagney.

Beached Boats at Berck

Artist Eugène Boudin (French, 1824 - 1898)

CultureFrench

Date1879

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions59 x 32 1/4 in. (149.9 x 81.9 cm)
Overall, Frame: 47 x 73 x 5 in. (119.4 x 185.4 x 12.7 cm)

InscribedSigned and dated lower right: E. Boudin. 1879

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number77.343

Collections

European Art before 1945

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, 256, ROW 27

DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting depicting the shore at Berck-sur-Mer, a small village along the English Channel between Dieppe and Calais. Fishermen eat lunch and repair boats while their vessels are temporarily beached by a receding tide. The two boats in the center mid-ground and the background are divided between sand and sky. In the left background there are several boats in the water. There is also a horse and buggy coming towards the viewer. On the right, in the mid-ground next to the beached boats are groups of men and women. Some are around a smoking fire. Portions of buildings, perhaps a home, are visible in the right background. The palette is very pale; blues, grays and beige predominate with mere spots of red, part of a mid-ground woman's wardrobe.

Label TextEugène Boudin French, 1824–1898 Beached Boats at Berck, 1879 Oil on canvas The air is heavy, humid, and hazy as Norman fishermen rest by their boats. Some repair their craft, temporarily beached by the receding tide, while others take a midday meal. Celebrated as “the king of skies,” Eugène Boudin had a unique ability to depict specific atmospheric conditions. As the critic Charles Baudelaire marveled, one easily knows “the very season, the time of day, and the wind” in Boudin’s work. Here, the weather evokes a languid mood that encourages us to stay and look a little longer. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 77.343 ProvenanceDurand-Ruel, Paris, by 1891; sold to Alex Reid and Lefevre, London, 1936; Sir Chester Beatty, Dublin; Galerie d'Atri, Paris, 1954; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Chrysler Museum at Provincetown; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, 1977. Exhibition History"Exposition des Oeuvres d'Eugène Boudin," Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, Jan. 9 - 30, 1899. (Exhib. cat. no. 162). "Exposition Boudin," Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1927. (Exhib. cat. no. 4). "Selected Pictures by Eugène Boudin," Arthur Tooth and Sons, London, Oct. 25 - Nov. 17, 1934. (Exhib. cat. no. 21). "Eugène Boudin and Some Contemporaries, Reid and Lefevre, London, Oct. 1936. (Exhib. cat. no. 6). "Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon; Seattle Art Museum; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Minneapolis Art Institute; St. Louis City Art Museum; William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City; Detroit Institute of Arts; and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, March 2, 1956 - April 14, 1957. (Exhib. cat. no. 77). "French Paintings 1789-1929 from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Dayton Art Institute, March 25 - May 22, 1960. (Exhib. cat. no. 57). "The Controversial Century 1850-1950," Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown, Massachusetts, and National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1962. (Exhib. cat. not paged). "Paintings of the Barbizon School," Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Jan. 6 - 29, 1962. (Exhib. cat. no. 2). "French Landscape Painters from Four Centuries," Finch College Museum of Art, New York, Oct. 20, 1965 - Jan. 9, 1966. (Exhib. cat. no. 34). "Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville, June 12 - Sept. 5, 1977. (Exhib. cat. no. 32). "Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk," for the benefit of The Chrysler Museum Art Reference Library, Wildenstein & Co., New York, N. Y., April 13 - May 13, 1978. (Exhib. cat. no. 22). "French Paintings from The Chrysler Museum," North Carolina Museum of Art, May 31 - Sept. 14, 1986; Birmingham Museum of Art, Nov. 6, 1986 - Jan. 18, 1987. (Exhib. cat. no. 35). Published ReferencesBertina S. Manning. _Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.: An Exhibition Organized by the Portland Art Museum, Oregon_. Portland: Portland Art Association. 1956. No. 77. Priscilla C. Colt and Charles H. Elam. _French Paintings 1789-1929 from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio. 1960. No. 57. Foreword by Charles F. Comfort, LL.D., and an introduction by William S.A. Dale, Ph.D. _The Controversial Century: 1850-1950_. Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown, Massachusetts. 1962: not paged. Exhibition catalogue. _Loan Exhibition of French Landscape Painters from Four Centuries_. New York: Finch College Museum of Art. 1965. No. 34. Robert Schmit. _Eugène Boudin, 1824-1898_. II. Paris. 1973. No. 1271. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya. _Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville. 1977. No. 32. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya. _Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum. 1978. No. 22. Jefferson C. Harrison. _French Paintings from the Chrysler Museum_. The Chrysler Museum. 1986. No. 35. *See for further references. Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. The Chrysler Museum. 1991. Plate 109, p.138.