An artwork on Galleree from Minneapolis Institute of Art.
About the artwork
Vacationers on the Beach at Trouville1864
Artist: Eugène-Louis Boudin
French, 1824 - 1898
Trouville environs. Beach (as place of recreation).
26 1/2 x 41 in. (67.31 x 104.14 cm) (canvas)
35 7/8 x 50 1/4 x 4 in. (91.12 x 127.64 x 10.16 cm) (outer frame)
Oil on canvas
Painting
France
19th century
The William Hood Dunwoody Fund
In the quietude of a summer day in the 1860s, Eugène Boudin set his easel on the sandy shores of Trouville, a charming resort town on the Normandy coast. The warm light bathed the seaside in a golden glow, dancing on the water as visitors from the bustling streets of Paris stepped off the freshly laid train tracks. Here, at this new haven, the whispers of ocean waves mingled with laughter as well-heeled city dwellers embraced a completely novel way of life: a holiday at the beach.
Boudin, with his keen eye for detail, began to capture this vibrant scene. People adorned in daring bathing costumes, a fresh trend that broke the societal molds of the time, frolicked in the gentle surf. Others, perhaps less inclined to dip their toes in the water, savored the salty breeze, mingling and socializing as they basked in the sea air. It was a world of leisure and joy, a moment in history where the simple experience of the beach transformed into a canvas of life.
The images he painted were fresh and inviting, quick to capture the attention of Parisian collectors eager for a glimpse of their own lives framed in art. Though many of his works were small enough to decorate the intimate parlors of the city's elite, they held within them vast stories of camaraderie and carefree summers at the shore.
Among these treasured scenes, one stood out, and even as the years rolled forward, it would leave its mark. This very painting would find a new home, as it became the first artwork acquired by the Minneapolis Institute of Art after its doors opened in 1915. With it, Boudin not only painted a picturesque view of Normandy but also set the stage for the enduring allure of beach holidays, a legacy woven into the fabric of human experience.
About the artist
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