GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Billowing white clouds and the steeples and smokestacks of the bustling Belgian city of Antwerp are reflected in the shimmering waters of the harbor. Recognized as a forerunner of the impressionists, Eugène Boudin painted en plein air, or outdoors, on small canvases with great sensitivity to light and climate conditions. The Quay at Antwerp illustrates his use of loose brushwork to represent the water's movement and atmospheric effects. His sketches and finished landscapes prompted the 19th–century art critic Charles Baudelaire to comment that "one can guess the season, the hour and the wind from Boudin's studies."
Boudin, the son of a mariner, was born in 1824 in Honfleur, France. While operating a small stationery shop in Le Havre, he met Eugène Isabey, Thomas Couture, and Jean-François Millet, and agreed to display their works in his shop window. Millet encouraged Boudin to devote himself to painting and leave his retail business behind. In 1851 the Society of Art Friends of Le Havre granted Boudin a scholarship to study in Paris for three years. Unimpressed by his contact with the schools in Paris and unaffected by the prevailing art standards, Boudin returned to Le Havre, intent on painting out-of-doors directly from nature (plein air). During this period he became acquainted with Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet, Charles Baudelaire, Charles François Daubigny, Johan Barthold Jongkind, and Claude Monet. He influenced the development of French Impressionism and exhibited in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874. He made his reputation painting scenes of vacationers along the beaches of Normandy, particularly in Deauville and Trouville. Boudin's paintings consisted mainly of beach scenes and seascapes from the coast of northern France and were distinguished by his attention to the irridescent quality of both water and vast skies.
Adapted from
- Gail Davitt, DMA biographical research, 1986-1987, Education files.
- DMA Label copy (1981.102) from The Lens of Impressionism: Photography and Painting along the Normandy Coast, 1850–1874, February 2010.
- Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy (1981.102), October 2010.
NOTES
Getty vocabularies uses different format of artist's name- Eugène Boudin (not Eugène-Louis Boudin). I entered this as a name variant so it could easily be made the primary format at a later date.
Entered artist's biography taken from education files into TMS text entry.
Reformatted existing provenance.
Entered the exhibition history from the 2001 research document into the TMS free-text exhibition history field.
Added two former titles ( "Anvers. L'Escault et les Quais" and "Le Port D'Anvers") to the TMS record. Though both are in French, I did not mark them as "foreign language titles" because then they would automatically appear next to the title when displayed online. Their designation can be changed if appropriate.
Misleading and conflicting date used in documentation. Multiple sources (including the 1973 catalogue raisonne) assign this work to 1871 and record the artist's inscription as including this date. At some point this changed in the records to assign the date 1874 and state that this date appears with the artist's inscription. External research shows that 1871 was the year Boudin produced the largest number of works set in Antwerp.
Removed TMS tag because rule exists.
This note was previously tagged #routed (and possibly !Routed_Feb15). I am removing those tags and replacing with #draft so that this note proceeds to GDocs for routing and is harvested to Brain. (EAS, 12/19/2016)
Need to add artist geography
Artist born (geography)
Honfleur
Artist active (geography)
Trouville
Le Havre
Trained- Paris
Provenance (not public)
Until 1911: Charles de Beriot, Paris [1]
From 1911: Mr. Joseph Allard, Paris, 1911 [1]
Before 1933: Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, before 1933 [2]
After 1933: Bernard Pierre, Paris [3]
After 1948: Galerie Schmit, Paris (as "Anvers. L'Escault et les Quais")[4]
1978-1981: Mr. and Mrs. Algur Meadows, Dallas
From 1981: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of the Meadows Foundation Incorporated [5]
[1] This date was found in the registrar's documentation but is not substantiated elsewhere. The National Gallery documents that Joseph Allard owned a gallery in Paris. Also according to the NGA, Charles de Beriot had two estate sales. The first was held on March 11, 1901 and the second on May 18, 1911.
[2] The gallery closed in 1933. See Alex Reid and Lefevre 1926-1976, London, 1976, p. 20-21.
[3] The information was obtained from a fax from Robert Schmit dated October 25, 2000.
[4] The gallery was open in 1928, so the painting could have been there at any time after 1928. However after 1948, the gallery began to deal more in impressionists and Boudin. Therefore, the gallery had the painting presumably sometime after 1948. Also, a fax from Robert Schmit indicates that the gallery acquired the painting from Mr. Pierre before selling it to Mr. Meadows.
[5] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
Catalogue essays specific to object
Artist/designers
Eugéne Boudin (French, 1824-1898)
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin and depicted location: Antwerp (Belgium): TGN: 7007856
Depicted location: English Channel: TGN: 7005239
Process/materials
Oil on panel
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
Impressionist
landscapes
seascapes
boats
steeples
smokestacks
clouds
blue
horizon line
reflections
houses
quay
water
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- "Everything that is painted on the spot has strength, a power, a vividness of touch that one does not find again in the studio." (Eugène Boudin, 1869)
- Boudin is probably best known as the artist credited by Claude Monet for introducing the famed Impressionist to the methods and benefits of plein air painting. The pair first met in 1858 in Le Havre.
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1981.102
Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
Billowing white clouds and the steeples and smokestacks of the bustling Belgian city of Antwerp are reflected in the shimmering waters of the harbor. Recognized as a forerunner of the impressionists, Eugène Boudin painted en plein air, or outdoors, on small canvases with great sensitivity to light and climate conditions. The Quay at Antwerp illustrates his use of loose brushwork to represent the water's movement and atmospheric effects. His sketches and finished landscapes prompted the 19th–century art critic Charles Baudelaire to comment that "one can guess the season, the hour and the wind from Boudin's studies."
Boudin, the son of a mariner, was born in 1824 in Honfleur, France. While operating a small stationery shop in Le Havre, he met Eugène Isabey, Thomas Couture, and Jean-François Millet, and agreed to display their works in his shop window. Millet encouraged Boudin to devote himself to painting and leave his retail business behind. In 1851 the Society of Art Friends of Le Havre granted Boudin a scholarship to study in Paris for three years. Unimpressed by his contact with the schools in Paris and unaffected by the prevailing art standards, Boudin returned to Le Havre, intent on painting out-of-doors directly from nature (plein air). During this period he became acquainted with Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet, Charles Baudelaire, Charles François Daubigny, Johan Barthold Jongkind, and Claude Monet. He influenced the development of French Impressionism and exhibited in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874. He made his reputation painting scenes of vacationers along the beaches of Normandy, particularly in Deauville and Trouville. Boudin's paintings consisted mainly of beach scenes and seascapes from the coast of northern France and were distinguished by his attention to the irridescent quality of both water and vast skies.
Adapted from
- Gail Davitt, DMA biographical research, 1986-1987, Education files.
- DMA Label copy (1981.102) from The Lens of Impressionism: Photography and Painting along the Normandy Coast, 1850–1874, February 2010.
- Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy (1981.102), October 2010.
Fun Facts
- "Everything that is painted on the spot has strength, a power, a vividness of touch that one does not find again in the studio." (Eugène Boudin, 1869)
- Boudin is probably best known as the artist credited by Claude Monet for introducing the famed Impressionist to the methods and benefits of plein air painting. The pair first met in 1858 in Le Havre.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Getty vocabularies uses different format of artist's name- Eugène Boudin (not Eugène-Louis Boudin). I entered this as a name variant so it could easily be made the primary format at a later date.
Entered artist's biography taken from education files into TMS text entry.
Reformatted existing provenance.
Entered the exhibition history from the 2001 research document into the TMS free-text exhibition history field.
Added two former titles ( "Anvers. L'Escault et les Quais" and "Le Port D'Anvers") to the TMS record. Though both are in French, I did not mark them as "foreign language titles" because then they would automatically appear next to the title when displayed online. Their designation can be changed if appropriate.
Misleading and conflicting date used in documentation. Multiple sources (including the 1973 catalogue raisonne) assign this work to 1871 and record the artist's inscription as including this date. At some point this changed in the records to assign the date 1874 and state that this date appears with the artist's inscription. External research shows that 1871 was the year Boudin produced the largest number of works set in Antwerp.
Removed TMS tag because rule exists.
This note was previously tagged #routed (and possibly !Routed_Feb15). I am removing those tags and replacing with #draft so that this note proceeds to GDocs for routing and is harvested to Brain. (EAS, 12/19/2016)
Need to add artist geography
Artist born (geography)
Honfleur
Artist active (geography)
Trouville
Le Havre
Trained- Paris
Provenance (not public)
Until 1911: Charles de Beriot, Paris [1]
From 1911: Mr. Joseph Allard, Paris, 1911 [1]
Before 1933: Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, before 1933 [2]
After 1933: Bernard Pierre, Paris [3]
After 1948: Galerie Schmit, Paris (as "Anvers. L'Escault et les Quais")[4]
1978-1981: Mr. and Mrs. Algur Meadows, Dallas
From 1981: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of the Meadows Foundation Incorporated [5]
[1] This date was found in the registrar's documentation but is not substantiated elsewhere. The National Gallery documents that Joseph Allard owned a gallery in Paris. Also according to the NGA, Charles de Beriot had two estate sales. The first was held on March 11, 1901 and the second on May 18, 1911.
[2] The gallery closed in 1933. See Alex Reid and Lefevre 1926-1976, London, 1976, p. 20-21.
[3] The information was obtained from a fax from Robert Schmit dated October 25, 2000.
[4] The gallery was open in 1928, so the painting could have been there at any time after 1928. However after 1948, the gallery began to deal more in impressionists and Boudin. Therefore, the gallery had the painting presumably sometime after 1948. Also, a fax from Robert Schmit indicates that the gallery acquired the painting from Mr. Pierre before selling it to Mr. Meadows.
[5] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
Catalogue essays specific to object
Artist/designers
Eugéne Boudin (French, 1824-1898)
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin and depicted location: Antwerp (Belgium): TGN: 7007856
Depicted location: English Channel: TGN: 7005239
Process/materials
Oil on panel
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
Impressionist
landscapes
seascapes
boats
steeples
smokestacks
clouds
blue
horizon line
reflections
houses
quay
water
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1981.102
source file
object_notes_2_b-0256.xml.nores