Eugène Boudin, 'The Entrance to Trouville Harbour', 1888

Boudin, who was born and grew up in the Normandy port of Honfleur and later owned a framing shop in Le Havre, had a lifelong fascination with the Channel coast. He is best known for his paintings of affluent holidaymakers on the beaches of Trouville such as Beach Scene, Trouville (about 1860–70); Beach Scene, Trouville (about 1870–4); and Beach Scene, Trouville (1873), but this painting shows a different aspect of life in the Normandy port. We see the mouth of the river Touques at the point where it flows into the sea, with the two jetties either side forming the entrance to Trouville’s harbour.

The tide is low, and ships are aground on the sandy banks. Boudin painted ports in many of the different cities he visited around Europe, several of them bustling with life, but this view of Trouville’s port shows it as a relatively quiet place, peopled with only a few fishermen. Just beyond the black wood jetties are two white lighthouses, and there is the suggestion of a boat yard on the right.

For much of the nineteenth century, fishing was Trouville’s main industry. The scene here seems tranquil, but the view facing towards the sea does not show the reality of the view upstream, with Trouville’s busy port and large ships. The pace of change was something that Boudin lamented. In 1893 he wrote: ‘I’ve finished my season at Trouville, the little port abandoned by the sailboats, because I haven’t seen one for two months. This is what is upsetting me – the slow disappearance of the sailboat that is already scarce will make the seascape monotonous.’ Faced with the transformation of a place he loved, Boudin turned to the sky and the sea which, he said, no-one could spoil. Here he plays with the contrast between the river Touques, as still and glassy as a mirror, and the lively sky with its scudding clouds. The two are separated by a narrow band of turquoise sea with a suggestion of breaking waves. The looser style of painting in the foreground perhaps reflects Boudin’s awareness of Impressionism, particularly the work of his friend Monet.