An interesting work by artist Eugène Boudin, painted en plein air on the French coast, is a highlight of the forthcoming Five Centuries auction this November. Renowned for his atmospheric depictions of coastal life, Boudin was a pioneer of outdoor painting whose fascination with light and the sea helped pave the way for Impressionism.
FINE ART
Eugène Boudin | The Sea, the Sky and the Light
22 October 2026
Romey Clark
EUGENE BOUDIN (FRENCH 1824-1898)
PORT - BATEAUX A L'ANCRE
Signed and dated '74, oil on cradled panel
£40,000 - 60,000 + fees
Eugène Boudin (1824–1898) spent his childhood in Honfleur before moving to Le Havre, both in Normandy. The son of a ship’s captain, he grew up immersed in the maritime world. The sea, beaches, boats and harbours became recurring motifs in his work.
A prolific artist, Boudin produced more than 4,000 paintings and 7,000 works on paper during his lifetime. Regarded as one of the pioneers of en plein air painting, he set up his easel on beaches and harbour walls along the northern coast of France, returning frequently to Deauville, Étretat and Trouville, among other coastal locations. Rejecting the conventions and constraints of the studio, he sought instead to capture fleeting effects of light, misty evenings and the ever-changing coastal atmosphere.
While looking at a painting of Boudin, one can guess the season, the time and the wind …
Charles Baudelaire
Throughout his career, Boudin refined the small-scale marine paintings that would become synonymous with his name. Charles Baudelaire, the renowned French poet and a contemporary admirer of Boudin’s work, observed: 'While looking at a painting of Boudin, one can guess the season, the time and the wind …’
The work, Port - Bateaux a L'ancre, is a fine example of Boudin’s enduring fascination with maritime subjects. To be offered in the Five Centuries auction this November, it has a distinguished provenance and a well-documented history. Formerly in the collections of J. Cabruja and Allard et Noël in Paris, the painting subsequently passed through Wall Findlay Gallery in New York and Richard Green in London, where it was acquired by the father of the current vendors. The work was included in the Cabruja collection sale at Hôtel Drouot, Paris, in 1921 and appeared at Sotheby’s, New York, in 1989. It is also recorded in Robert and Manuel Schmit’s Eugène Boudin, Deuxième Supplément (1993), further establishing its place within the artist’s documented oeuvre.
