King of the Skies – Perspectives from The Artist’s Road

King of the Skies

Perspectives from The Artist’s Road

The Effect of the Moon     1891     Eugène Boudin

   There is an important exhibition underway now until the end of August, 2025, at the Musée Marmottan in Paris that will interest anyone who loves Impressionism and the early influences which helped shape young Claude Monet. Eugène Boudin, The Father of Impressionism: A Private Collection, is a rare opportunity to gain valuable insights into the work of a seminal influence in French painting of the 1850s who encouraged Monet to take up the plein air brush. From the Marmottan’s website:

   “Collector Yann Guyonwarc’h has assembled a collection of works by Eugène Boudin (1824 – 1898) that is unrivalled in any museum in the world. Every facet of the artist’s career is represented, from his first paintings in Le Havre to his final trip to Venice; from private sketches to paintings for the Salon (including one of the two largest beach scenes ever painted by Boudin). The works in this prestigious collection are matched with the holdings of the Musée Marmottan Monet, to highlight the dialogue between Boudin and his main pupil, Claude Monet. Thanks to the participation of the Durand-Ruel archives, the relationship between the two artists and their main dealer is also explored”

High Tide at Trouville     1894     Eugène Boudin

   Eugène Louis Boudin was born at Honfleur, Normandy. The son of a harbor pilot, by age 10 Boudin was working alongside his father on a steamboat between Honfleur and Le Havre. No doubt, those experiences instilled in him a love of boats, ocean and marine skies. His father later moved the family to Le Havre, where he opened a stationery and framing shop. Through that framing and gallery business, young Boudin met Jean-François Millet, Constant Troyon, Jean-Baptiste Isabey and Thomas Couture, who encouraged him to pursue a creative life. By age 22, he had started painting full time, eventually moving to Paris and studying under Isabey. Under the favorable influence of the Dutch painter Johan Jongkind, Boudin began painting en plein air, often returning to the beaches of Normandy for his inspiration. It was on one of those trips, in 1857, where he met the 17 year-old Monet and encouraged him to switch from caricatures to painting landscapes in oil, en plein air. He coached Monet on the techniques. Struck by the marine light there, Monet took up landscape painting and never looked back.

Saint Valery sur Somme – The Bridge on the Lock     1891     Eugène Boudin

  Corot called Boudin the “King of the Skies”, for the sensitive and remarkable handling of light in his paintings. Boudin rose to become a major influence in the formation of the plein air Impressionist movement and helped to change the face of French painting from the 1850s onward. Although he painted more than 800 works in his life, he isn’t well known today for his marvelous landscape works—paintings which strongly influenced Monet’s own choices of subjects and painting locations. There is clearly much more to know about this important artist. If you are in Paris this summer, give this exhibition a look at the Musée Marmottan!