Eugène Boudin Overview

Eugène Boudin (1824 - 1898) was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors (in the open air), directly from nature, mostly known for his paintings of sea and sky. Boudin was a marine painter, and expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea and along its shores. His many beach scenes directly link the carefully observed naturalism of the early 19th century and the brilliant light and fluid brushwork of late 19th-century Impressionism.

Eugène Boudin was born at Honfleur, Normandy, as the son of a sailor, on July 12, 1824, and remained faithful to his native province throughout his long life. His father worked as cabin boy onboard the rickety steamer that sailed between Le Havre and Honfleur across the estuary of the Seine. He died August 8, 1898, Deauville.