Eugène Boudin

Eugène Boudin (1824-1898), French painter, noted for his seascapes and beach scenes. He spent most of his life in Normandy, producing numerous oil paintings and more than 6,000 drawings and watercolours of resorts of the coast of northern France. He was one of the first artists to paint in the open air (en plein air) rather than in a studio. His enthusiasm for painting from nature is evident in his masterly portrayals of iridescent sand and water under bright, shifting sunlight. Boudin taught Claude Monet, whom he introduced to plein air painting, and influenced the Impressionist painters. He also participated in the first Impressionist exhibition in Paris in 1874.