Ships and Sailing Boats Leaving Le Havre

1887

Eugène Boudin

Associated Names
Eugène Boudin

Artist, French, 1824 - 1898

This is a painting depicting several ships on a stretch of water. The horizon is situated in the lower third of the painting, creating a vast expanse of sky above. Several ships can be seen on the horizon; a large sailing ship with multiple masts and large white sails dominates the center, surrounded by smaller vessels with off-white sails. One of these smaller ships is close to us, to the left of center. At the top of its mast, a small blue flag flies. A wave appears to crash over the side of this ship, and two small people are visible on it. The sea is a blue-green color, with lines of white and light gray indicating small waves. The sky is light blue and covered in puffy white and gray clouds. The brushstrokes in the painting are loose and fluid, especially those in the water.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

  • Dimensions

    overall: 90.4 x 130.5 cm (35 9/16 x 51 3/8 in.)
    framed: 155.6 x 115.6 cm (61 1/4 x 45 1/2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1983.1.7

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Durand-Ruel family, Paris; acquired after 1942 by (Sam Salz, New York); sold 1959 to Mr. Paul Mellon, Upperville, Virginia; gift 1983 to NGA.[2]
[1]This object does not appear on the list of paintings imported by Salz into the United States 1939-1940, nor on his list of stock dated January 1943 (NARA/RG131/Foreign Funds Control Investigative Reports/Box 30, no. N 8-2318, copied NGA curatorial file).
[2] According to Paul Mellon records in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1888

  • Salon of 1888, Paris, no. 321, as Le bateau pilote.

1960

  • Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture Collected by Yale Alumni: An Exhibition, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, 1960, no. 44, repro., as La Sortie du Havre.

1966

  • French Paintings from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and Mrs. Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, no. 20, repro

1986

  • Gifts to the Nation: Selected Acquisitions from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1986, unnumbered checklist

1989

  • Paintings by Eugène Boudin from the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1989, no cat.

2005

  • La mar de arte. Una travesia por la historia de la navegació a vela (Art Galore. An exploration into the History of Sailing), IVAM, Valencia, 2005-2006, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2007

  • Eugène Boudin at the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2007, no cat.

  • Eugene Boudin, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 2007-2008, no cat.

Bibliography

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 62, repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: E. Boudin 1887

Wikidata ID

Q20189889

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