THE FIRST IMPRESSIONIST: Eugène Boudin
November 14, 2007 - February 17, 2008

Eugène Boudin (French, 1824-1898); Beach Scene at Trouville, 1863; oil on wood; 13-3/4 by 22-3/4 inches; National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts presents the first American exhibition in 30 years to be devoted exclusively to the work of Eugène Boudin (1824-1898),an artist who has often been overlooked in the history of French Impressionism, yet remains one of the most charming and accessible painters of that movement. The First Impressionist is part of Celebrating Paul Mellon, VMFA's year-long commemoration of the centenary of benefactor Paul Mellon's birth. The exhibition is drawn from the collections of the National Gallery and VMFA, which together have the largest and most distinguished array of Boudin's works in America, largely because of gifts from Mr. and Mrs. Mellon and also - in the case of the National Gallery - from Mellon's sister, Ailsa Mellon Bruce. A selection of the National Gallery's works was exhibited in Washington, D.C., this summer as Eugène Boudin at the National Gallery of Art.

The 49 works in the exhibition include small-scale paintings of tourists at fashionable Normandy resorts, works with which Boudin made his reputation. The hoopskirts, parasols and crinolines of fashionable ladies on beaches and promenades are painted with charm, yet also with a degree of ironic detachment. They range from oil sketches and watercolors to highly finished exhibition pictures. Their fresh palette and accuracy of detail earned the admiration of contemporaries such as Camille Corot (1796-1875) (who called Boudin "the king of the skies."), Edouard Manet (1832-83) and Gustave Courbet (1819-77). Like these artists, Boudin was a strong advocate of painting from nature and greatly influenced the Impressionists who followed him, notably Claude Monet (1840-1926), who once said "I owe everything to Boudin."

In addition to Boudin's paintings and drawings of vacationers, the exhibition includes images of the inhabitants of Normandy and Brittany pursuing their daily activities - as fishermen and sailors and aboard commercial vessels. These works range from a set of six graphite drawings from a single sketchbook to two large, highly finished, paintings that Boudin submitted to Paris's juried Salon in search of official recognition.

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The First Impressionist: Eugène Boudin is sponsored in Richmond by Philip Morris USA.

Additional support provided by the Paul Mellon Endowment of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

The media sponsor for the exhibition is Virginia Living magazine.

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The National Gallery of Art, VMFA and the Yale Center for British Art (which he established) are the three American art institutions that have been the primary beneficiaries of Mellon's philanthropy.

The exhibition will be presented in the Mellon Sporting Galleries and will succeed the first Mellon centenary loan exhibition of British watercolors from the Yale Center for British Art. Additional programs related to this exhibition and other components of Celebrating Paul Mellon, both in Richmond and around the state, will be listed on the museum Web site. All elements of the VMFA celebration are supported by the Paul Mellon Endowment of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and are presented free to the public.

Organizers: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the National Gallery of Art
Curators: Florence E. Coman, Assistant Curator of French Paintings, National Gallery of Art, Mitchell Merling, Paul Mellon Curator and Head of the Department of European Art, VMFA
Dates: November 14 2007-February 17 2008

RELATED EVENTS

Guided Tours

Docent-guided tours for students (grades 4–12) and adult groups (10–25 persons) available Wed–Sun, Dec 5, 2007–Feb 17, 2008; fee: $4 per person, free to students. Please schedule at least three weeks in advance. For details about adult groups, please phone Group Sales, 804.340.1596; school groups, please phone Tour Services, 804.340.1419.