The Touques River winds through the coastal region of Normandy's department Calvados before emptying into the English Channel between the seaside resort towns of Deauville and Trouville sur Mer. This meeting of river and sea endlessly inspired Eugene Boudin to create scenes of life along the river such as this charming view.
Painting on site, en plein air, Boudin's lively brushwork has captured a typical day's activity along the river. It is nearing midday and patches of blue peek through the morning's clouds. Two horse drawn carriages cross the bridge, surely ferrying fine ladies and gentlemen under their covers. A fisherman walks along the right bank, pole at his shoulder. Next to him, a workman stands on his tilted cart, surveying its contents perhaps to carry down to a boat on the banks below.
This painting has all the hallmarks one expects to see in the finer examples by this master of impressionism. Boudin's signature red color sits among a multitude of bright colors highlighting the boats and houses along the river. The scene is both tranquil and active, balancing areas of natural serenity with areas of swift movement. Above all, the clouds are rendered with supreme mastery; the interplay of brush strokes and subtle tonality creating tremendous depth. This is a work worthy of Boudin's title "The King of Skies" given him by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot.
Boudin's views of this area are desirable and several of his paintings of the River Touques are in the permanent collections of museums in France, Spain, England and the United States including works in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Fine Art Institute of Chicago.
