Eugène Louis Boudin, French, 1824-1898
Title: The Meuse at Dordrecht
Date: 1882
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
117 x 159 cm
Signed: lower left: E Boudin [18]82
Credit Line: Presented, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, 1950
Object Number: NGI.4212
DescriptionBelieving that "everything painted on the spot always has a strength, a power, a vividness of touch that is not to be found again in the studio", Eugène Boudin was one of the major precursors of French Impressionism. In his on lifetime, he was regarded as a modern descendant of the great Dutch seventeenth-century marine painters. He discovered Holland surprisingly late in his career, travelling there for the first time in 1876. As always, with his great love of the sea, he was drawn to cities with busy ports, like Rotterdam and Dordrecht. At Dordrecht he enjoyed the picturesque attraction of the River Meuse and, in a letter to a friend, he described the tranquillity of watching the river as it flowed under a beautiful sky. It was always Boudin's aim to capture the atmosphere: the formation and movement of the clouds, the motion of the water, and the unifying light.
Although he participated in the first Impressionist exhibition of 1874, he remained a naturalist, and his palette never developed into the broken touches of paint characteristic of the Impressionists.
(National Gallery of Ireland: Essential Guide, 2008)
Although he participated in the first Impressionist exhibition of 1874, he remained a naturalist, and his palette never developed into the broken touches of paint characteristic of the Impressionists.
(National Gallery of Ireland: Essential Guide, 2008)
ProvenanceGalerie Durand-Ruel, Paris; Auction, New York, 21-23 February 1888, no. 179; Samuel P. Avery, New York; Charles Stewart-Smith, New York; Auction, 4 January 1935, Charles Stewart-Smith sale, no. 67; bought by Silbermann, New York; Galerie Raphaël Gérard,1935; Alex Reid and Lefevre Ltd., London, 1936; Sir Alfred Chester Beatty; presented, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, 1950
Exhibition History(?)Exposition Boudin, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1889
A collection of paintings by Eugene Boudin and some contemporaries, Alex Reid and Lefevre Ltd., London, 1936
Exhibition of the Chester Beatty Collection, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 1950
Centenary Exhibition of the National Gallery, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 1964
La Peinture Francais du XIXe siècle. Collection Chester Beatty de la Galerie National d'Irlande, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Calais; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Quimper; Musée Sainte-Croix, Poitiers, 1989
French 19th and 20th Century Paintings from the National Gallery of Ireland: Corot to Picasso, Daimaru Museum, Tokyo, 5 September-17 September 1996; Daimaru Museum, Kyoto, 10 October-22 October 1996; Kawaguchiko Museum of Art, Yamanashi, 26 October-2 December 1996; Daimaru Museum, Umeda,Osaka, 22 January-9 February 1997; Aomori Municpal Gallery of Art, Aomori, 2 April-20 April 1997
Chester Beatty: The Paintings, Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, 7 September 2012 - 31 August 2013; The Hunt Museum, Limerick, 1 February - 30 March 2014
Von Poussin bis Monet. Die Farben Frankreichs, The Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck, Remagen, 22 March - 6 September 2015; Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg, 10 October 2015 - 17 January 2016
A collection of paintings by Eugene Boudin and some contemporaries, Alex Reid and Lefevre Ltd., London, 1936
Exhibition of the Chester Beatty Collection, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 1950
Centenary Exhibition of the National Gallery, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 1964
La Peinture Francais du XIXe siècle. Collection Chester Beatty de la Galerie National d'Irlande, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Calais; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Quimper; Musée Sainte-Croix, Poitiers, 1989
French 19th and 20th Century Paintings from the National Gallery of Ireland: Corot to Picasso, Daimaru Museum, Tokyo, 5 September-17 September 1996; Daimaru Museum, Kyoto, 10 October-22 October 1996; Kawaguchiko Museum of Art, Yamanashi, 26 October-2 December 1996; Daimaru Museum, Umeda,Osaka, 22 January-9 February 1997; Aomori Municpal Gallery of Art, Aomori, 2 April-20 April 1997
Chester Beatty: The Paintings, Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, 7 September 2012 - 31 August 2013; The Hunt Museum, Limerick, 1 February - 30 March 2014
Von Poussin bis Monet. Die Farben Frankreichs, The Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck, Remagen, 22 March - 6 September 2015; Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg, 10 October 2015 - 17 January 2016
Label TextBoudin was an important precursor of Impressionism. His direct approach to painting nature inspired younger artists such as Monet, whom he encouraged to work outdoors. Boudin was very interested in seventeenth-century Dutch landscape painting and he visited Holland many times. This depiction of the Meuse at Dordrecht is one of the largest views of the river that he made. It reveals his fascination with the effects of light on land, water, and sky. As is typical of Boudin’s work, a vast sky features prominently. In fact, Corot referred to him as ‘King of the skies’.