Beach Scene (c. 1865–1867): Art, History and Details

Beach Scene (c. 1865–1867) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Eugène Boudin (French, 1824–1898).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

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.

Object facts

• Title: Beach Scene
• Date: c. 1865–1867
• Creator attribution: Eugène Boudin (French, 1824–1898)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: 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.)
• Collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
• Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1917.63

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. D. Z. Norton

Further reading listed by the museum

• "Accessions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 4, no. 4 (1917): 64-67.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.