Boats Decorated with Flags in the Port of Deauville (Bateaux pavoisés dans le bassin, Deauville)

Over the course of his career, Eugène Boudin regularly painted the colorful regattas that took place on the Normandy Coast and were major tourist attractions. In this work, the ships in the harbor at Deauville are festooned with colorful flags that twist and turn in the wind. The festival boat race takes place in the foreground. Boudin was called the “king of the skies,” and here he wonderfully evokes the shifting movements of the clouds. Close examination reveals that the inscription “Deauville Aout 95” (“Deauville, August 95”) and the signature at bottom left (in a darker color) were applied by the artist at different times.