Marketplace, Trouville

The freshness of the observation and the rapid, masterful execution of Market Place, Trouville attest to the similarity between Boudin’s work and Impressionism. The painting is punctuated by touches of pure colour, vibrant and whirling, capturing the movement of the crowd and the fleeting subtleties of the atmospheric variations. His luminous colours set him apart from the painters of the Barbizon School, who, although staunch defenders of the direct observation of nature, retained a more traditional halftone palette. Boudin captures a fleeting moment, preferring the sketch-like quality to that of a more finished composition, which suited his clients’ expectations. His technique and the natural poses of his figures, taken unbeknownst to them, suggest something of the art of photography. Although this pictorial approach, far removed from the official taste of the time, left the public perplexed, critics and avant-garde artists understood the extraordinary talent and modernity of this painter, who anticipated the revolutionary movement in painting that would be Impressionism.