Trouville, Beached Boat

Trouville changed beyond recognition during Corot's working life. In the late 1820s it was a fishing village at the mouth of the river Touques, which the marine painter Charles Mozin had started showing to Paris audiences at the Salon. By the 1860s it was a fashionable seaside resort, crowded with summer visitors from Paris. This small picture, 21 by 26 centimetres, could belong to either Trouville. Older writing on Corot placed it in the 1830s, while the Louvre now dates it only to somewhere between 1850 and 1875. What it shows is working life. A fishing boat lies heeled over on the wet sand at low tide, its sails hanging loose, while a few small sails stand far out on the water. In the lower left corner Corot painted his name in dark capitals, followed by a dedication to someone named Bardon.