Trouville, Beach Scene 

Eugène Boudin’s “Trouville, Beach Scene” is a landscape painted with oils that captures a breezy day at the beach. Consider the qualities of oil paint itself: its texture, color and form. Boudin uses short brushstrokes and the blurring of forms to convey atmosphere and motion. The way he layers the paint creates a sense of depth. The sky, painted with a combination of blues, grays, and whites, evokes the feeling of a cloudy, overcast day. The artist's application of paint is quick and loose, suggesting the fleeting nature of weather and light on the coast. Boudin was deeply interested in capturing the changing conditions of light and atmosphere in his paintings, something that he shared with the Impressionists. He wasn't necessarily interested in detail, but in capturing the essence of a scene. Think about what it meant to make paintings outdoors in the 19th century, and how it connects this painting to the tradition of landscape art. In Boudin's painting, materials, making, and context all contribute to the artwork's significance.