Trouville, Beach Scene (Trouville, scène de plage)

Eugène Boudin represents a group of elegantly dressed tourists who relax on the beach at Trouville on the Normandy Coast. Two gentlemen are in top hats, suggesting that this party may have just visited the horse races. Boudin’s beach scenes were commercially successful, but his attitude towards his subjects appears to have been ambivalent. On one occasion, he even described such gatherings of tourists as a “frightful masquerade.” Boudin chose to paint his outdoor scenes on small wood panels, which were more suited to the windy conditions of the beach than lighter canvases that tended to bend with the breeze.