Levels 1-6

Join an NGV Educator live from the NGV for a short and lively introduction to one work from French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. To have your questions answered about the Wednesday Work of the Week send them in advance to education.bookings@ngv.vic.gov.au. The program recording will also be available to access for one week for booked participants.   

Eugène Louis Boudin

Have you ever heard the phrase en plein air? It’s a French term that means ‘in the open air’, which is where many of the Impressionists enjoyed painting. Eugène Louis Boudin was one of the first French landscape painters to paint en plein air. While he isn’t considered an Impressionist artist, he was a very influential figure for a young Claude Monet. Like many of the Impressionists who followed his artistic practice, Boudin was fascinated with scenes of water and sky, and frequently depicted both in his paintings. This week, journey to the Normandy coast to see fashionable urban beach-goers of the time, with Eugène Louis Boudin’s, Fashionable figures on the beach, 1865.

Learning Objectives

• Identify aspects of Boudin’s artistic practice that inspired the Impressionists.
• Examine the ways in which Boudin expressed his ideas, feelings and beliefs in his work.
• Discuss how artworks are made and how the choice of materials can influence their meaning.

Duration: 15 mins

Cost: Free