Louis Eugène Boudin In the Barões de São Joaquim (Barons of São Joaquim) collection

Bordeuax The harbor II
Landscape with sailboats in the waters of the harbor.

In the foreground is a little dry land, undergrowth and a solid tripod with a beacon.

Behind is a larger gathering of sailboats.

On the opposite side of the picture, tiny figures of men working draw your attention.

Their presence was captured with just a few brush strokes.

A blue and gray sky dominates most of the canvas.

Le Havre
The only picture in the collection that focuses on Le Havre. Many works of art bought in France by the Barons of São Joaquim were shipped to Brazil from this port city. Among them, so it appears, were the twenty pictures of L.E. Boudin.

Under a perfectly blue sky is a panorama of the harbor, with its buildings, houses, and figures on the quays, including a crane.

To its side, is moored, a red-hulled ship dominating the landscape.

The quivering mirror of the sea reflects the ship's outline and other objects in the bay's water.

Study of the Sky

This picture is an admirable study of the atmospheric effects captured through the use of color. With a range of colors and tones of differing brightness, the drawing is almost completely omitted. It is an almost total avoidance of form. Ignoring the narrative details, the painter concentrates on the breadth of the sky that covers most of the painting. Without strong or dominant colors, its brightness and luminosity capture attention.

The sky and the sea merge into the horizon until lost to view. Everything is illuminated by a solar disk that produces incredible shades of yellow, blue, and lilac among the gray clouds.

One of the four paintings in the MNBA collection focusing on the landscape with animals. Unlike the others, the absence of water is notable: there is no river or sea.

In the foreground, we see a wide area of pasture with animals and chickens.

Farther back, a person is leaning against the fence. A house and grove make up the distant parts of the horizon,

rising slightly to the left. A beautiful sky complements the landscape.

A cluster of diverse elements of his own preference, such as clear sky, green grass, animals and the sea with his sailboats - the painter concentrated on the first plan that is surprisingly high and wide in relation to rest of the work.

In this painting, which reminds us of the teachings of the Dutch animalistic painters, there are two cows, one standing and the other lying down. Both are facing to the right, and a third, further on, faces the sea. One can note a more cautious work on animal bodies, which makes their forms more consistent.

One of the most lyrical paintings in the collection.
Blue shades in most of the composition, achieved through the reflections of the calm sky on the water.
The curves of the Deauville River, portrayed in many other paintings as well, draw here an elliptical shape which lefts narrow strips of solid ground. In them dominate a green vegetation.

Of the left presence of domesticated animals,

in the background, in both the edges of the river, small house, the elements land, sky, water and beings livings in are reached conviviality and harmony.

This is the last work of the collection verified by the artist himself. Two opposing parabolas are noted, which support the composition of the picture. The first is formed on the nearest plane, the ripple of land, a fence, and the unfolding of the river ahead.

A post in the background marks the high point of this curve.

The second is perceived in the formation of the horizon through vegetation and houses, starting at both ends of the picture and coming down almost to the center, making the wide strip of sky narrow at the edges. In terms of color, attention is focused on the blue mixed with gray and white, contrasting with the green of the pasture.

This is one of the many interesting panels on the laundresses of the river Touques.

The painter's attention was not drawn here to the fleeting changes of the sky and waters.

In this picture, they appear only in gray and white and are almost uniform.

What is noticeable are the banks of the river with a scene populated by washerwomen. They occupy one part of the canvas,

from the right-hand corner

to the left of the composition. The colorful clothes are focal in this part, both the dresses being worn

and those being washed; rendered with small splashes of bright tones. The technique of divided brush strokes is remarkable.

The technique of divided brush stroke is remarkable.