Cows in a field under a stormy sky, 1877

In 1861, hard up, Eugène Boudin took work painting skies into other men's canvases, among them those of Constant Troyon, a celebrated painter of cattle. In this canvas, 16 years later, he keeps the cattle and hands the sky most of the picture. Five cows, three lying in the grass and two standing near the water, occupy a narrow strip of meadow at the bottom. Behind them runs a river with a wooden fence, then a low line of trees and roofs. Everything above that is cloud, grey and heavy, with a paler break near the horizon. Pastures like this became one of Boudin's steady subjects alongside the beaches he is known for. He signed at the lower left and added the year, 77. The painting was given to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge in 1996 by Philip McClean.