Riders on the Beach at Dieppe 1892

Rene Princeteau’s painting, Riders on the Beach at Dieppe, is rendered in oil on canvas, a material that has been used to create paintings for centuries. Yet it’s interesting to consider why Princeteau would have chosen this medium, at this moment, to capture a scene of riders on the beach. Oil paint allows for a certain level of realism, and the softness of the light and the textures of the sand are well captured. However, Princeteau’s brushstrokes are visible, which suggests that he wasn’t simply trying to create a photographic representation of the scene. Instead, he was interested in exploring the qualities of the medium itself, and the way in which it could be used to create a sense of movement and atmosphere. We can read the painting as a study in class relations. The horse riders were, in their time, wealthy elites with the leisure time to ride horses on the beach. The painting, therefore, is a product of its social context, and it can be seen as a reflection of the values and beliefs of the time.