Lot 116: Eugene Boudin O/B Painting, French Harbor

Eugene Louis Boudin (French, 1824-1898) oil on panel marine painting depicting a bustling port scene, possibly the Port of Trouville. Ships and rowboats are reflected in the grey water while figures move along the wharf. Overhead, a few patches of blue sky emerge in a sky clustered with clouds.  Signed “E. Boudin” lower left. Cove molded giltwood frame. Panel: 13 3/4 in H. x 10 1/2 in. W. Frame: 18 in. H x 14 in. W.

Note: since at least the early 1900s, this painting has been in the collection of Walter Squire and his family. Walter Squire was born in 1893 in LaGrange Park (Chicago), Illinois, and was a noted music professor and art collector. He resided in France and Germany between 1908-1911 and continued traveling between the two continents over the next decade, acquiring works by a variety of artists. In 1932, Vassar held an exhibition of Walter Squire’s French art works at Taylor Hall, including five Boudin “paintings which deal mainly with the seascapes in which he excelled,” likely including this work, although catalog for the exhibit has been lost. (Vassar Miscellany News, Vol. XVIi, No. 10, Nov. 3, 1932, p. 1, 3 and 6. A copy of this article is available on request). Squire died in 1959.

Artist biography: Eugene Boudin was best known for his marine scenes depicting people and boats along the shores. He was born in Deauville, Honfleur, Normandy, and both he and his father spent time working on boats. In 1835 his father gave up being a sailor and became a frame maker. Boudin became an assistant in his father’s shop and in that capacity met artists including Millet and Thomas Couture. In 1850, Boudin received a scholarship to study art in Paris. He became much influenced by 17th Century Dutch masters.  Meeting the Dutch painter, Johan Jongkind (1819-1891), regarded as a forerunner of the Impressionism of Claude Monet, Boudin was exposed to plein-air painting and encouraged by Jongkind to pursue it. Boudin also met Claude Monet, who then worked with Boudin in his studio and became a life-long friend. 

In 1874, Boudin joined Monet and other Impressionists in the first exhibition of works in that style.  However, Boudin did not consider himself nor did others consider him to be as radical as Monet and some of his followers. Boudin became a frequent Salon exhibitor, winning a third-place medal in 1881 and a Gold Medal in 1889 at the Exposition Universelle.  Three years later he was made a knight of the Legion of Honor. Boudin also traveled extensively, but toward the end of his life, he returned to Deauville to die within view of the water he loved so well. (Source: Encyclopedia Britannica 11th Ed., Gustave Cahen, “Eugene Boudin”). 

PROVENANCE: By descent in the family of Walter Squire, New York, to present Middle Tennessee collection.  

CONDITION: Tight 4 in. crack to panel extending from top edge into sky area. A few areas if fine craquelure. Otherwise good condition, recently cleaned. Frame with wear and losses, repairs at joints.