작품 상세

EUGÈNE BOUDIN , HONFLEUR, 1824 – DEAUVILLE, 1898 1) Still Life with Pewter Pitcher 2) Still Life with Tipped-Over Egg Cup Oil on canvas 1) 57 x 82 cm 2) 56 x 81 cm 1) This is an ode to matter. Each element seems to owe its place to its nature and to the rendering that the painter will be able to draw from it. Matt or shiny, smooth or rough, from each Eugène Boudin will seek to translate the character of its material. It is obviously with light that the painter obtains his most realistic effects. The golden crust of the cake is matched by the discreet shine of the earthenware pot, or, more dull, the golden brown of the loaf of bread, a distant relative of the former. The pitcher, although made of pewter, is the hero of the piece, adding reflection to the shine, allowing the red apple to be reflected in its belly. In their turn, spoon and knife blade, throw some glitter reminding their metallic nature. But the battle between colour and light to attract the eye suddenly seems unequal with the presence of this napkin thrown across the table. Capturing the light with its immaculate whiteness, it diverts the attention from a dark and monochrome background, where the apples of an empty basket try to appear. 2) A pâté en croute, peaches, artichokes, eggs... are piled up on a buffet and on a table, victuals ready to be cooked, or even eaten for some. In this respect, the eggs, placed on a plate on the right, are waiting, under the cover of a cloth, for someone to taste them. Beside them, the spoon, but above all the egg cup, announce this outcome... yet thwarted by the overturning of the latter. Here, the food seems to tell us a home story. The eye is invited to decipher meaning in the nature and distribution of the figurative elements. The tea towel responds to the napkin, the fluffy shape of the peaches to the smooth roundness of the eggs. But this arrangement is above all indebted to Chardin's still lifes. The rigour and sobriety of the composition that emerges on a monochrome wall shows how much Eugène Boudin knew how to look at and learn from the work of his elder. In 1859, he exhibited his first painting at the Salon where he was noticed by Baudelaire. He met Courbet, Jongkind and then Monet, whom he introduced to plein-air painting. As he gained notoriety, he devoted himself to more mundane subjects, accompanying the birth of the first seaside resorts, Deauville, Trouville but also Juan-les-Pins. In 1874, he took part in the first Impressionist exhibition at Nadar's. Beyond the scenes of daily life, sketched with vivacity and even picturesque, his landscapes are organised with precision according to the laws of perspective and according to a framing influenced by the nascent photography. The characters, secondary or even anecdotal, are set in a perspectival space where the eye is invited to travel over vast expanses. But it is above all his treatment of light that will earn him the recognition of his peers, particularly for his skies. Corot, his elder, gave him the laudatory title of 'king of the skies', while Baudelaire awarded him the title of 'painter of meteorological beauties'. Provenance: Bonvoisin Collection, Montivilliers (commissioned and acquired from the artist). Max Bonvoisin, Étretat (by descent, before 1951). Tissot Collection, France. Private collection (before 1973). Sale, Me Libert, Paris, 4 December 2009, lots 38 and 39. Galerie Schmit, Paris (acquired during this sale). Signatur: 1) Signed with initials and dated 'E. B 1855' (lower right) 2) Signed 'E. Boudin.' (bottom right)