Pastel inlaid in a larger sheet
147 × 233 mm
Signed on the bottom right E. Boudin

Mainly known for his painted work, Eugène Boudin also devoted himself very widely to pastel, a technique he seems to have used since the 1850s. Celebrated by Baudelaire, Boudin’s skies are pieces of pure landscape, testifying to his keen observation of light.

Presumably drawn on the motif, this landscape represents an estuary with a moored sailboat. On the right-hand side, three figures animate the peaceful composition. Like the Dutch painters of the 17th century, the sky occupies most of his pastel. He likes to play with the variations in light, which he accentuates with the fading of the chalk. In a letter to the painter Louis Braqueval, Boudin wrote: « I am going to go back to the skies and search again, search to fight against this thing so difficult to approach: light » (16 June 1896).