The Beach at Trouville

By the summer of 1867 the railway from Paris had been reaching Trouville for four years, and the fishing town at the mouth of the Touques had become one of the most fashionable beaches of Napoleon III's France. Across the river, the emperor's half-brother, the Duc de Morny, had launched the rival resort of Deauville a few years earlier. Boudin had found a market in this crowd. In 1863 he wrote that people liked his "little ladies on the beach" very much, and that some thought there was a gold seam in them. Here they are in their crinolines, gathered in conversation on the sand, parasols open and a small dog among them, while sailing boats pass behind. The panel is only 48 centimetres wide. Within a year or two he would largely give up these crowded society beaches, as buyers grew scarce. He signed and dated this one "E. Boudin 67" in the lower left corner and wrote the word Trouville on the right.