Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009700Beach Scene
About the Artwork
On a beach where a strong breeze moves off the water from left to right, figures of French women, men, and children in chic Parisian dress stroll, sit, chat, or take donkey rides. The activities depicted (promenades, socializing, riding, sandbox playing) are the same as those enjoyed by residents of London or Paris. At the right, the dog suggests that these are vacationers rather than tourists seeking to recreate their urban pastimes at the seashore. Painted outdoors, this composition is typical of Boudin's beach scenes in the 1860s in its low-lying horizon, cloud-filled sky, and figures ranged across the middle ground. By scattering the figures over the surface and not closing off the scene with framing elements, the artist created the impression of a partial view of a much larger scene.
Inscriptions
Signed lower right: E. Bou[. . .]
Exhibition history
French Art Since Eighteen Hundred. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 8-December 8, 1929). The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936). The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941). French Drawings and Watercolors from French Public and Private Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 6-February 15, 1942). 19th and 20th Century French Art and Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Loans. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 22-September 1, 1943). 35th Anniversary Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Eugène Boudin (French, 1824–1898)
- Date
- c. 1865–1867
- Medium
- oil on wood panel
- Dimensions
- Framed: 54 x 75 x 6.4 cm (21 1/4 x 29 1/2 x 2 1/2 in.); Unframed: 34.7 x 57.7 cm (13 11/16 x 22 11/16 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. D. Z. Norton
- Accession no.
- 1917.63
More by Eugène-Louis Boudin in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009700
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