La playa

People came to the Normandy beaches on medical advice. Sea air and cold salt water were prescribed treatments, and a tanned face still belonged to farm labourers, so the visitors in this picture are dressed as they would be in town. The women wear long sleeves and full skirts and hold black parasols up against the sun. The men are in dark suits and pale straw hats. Only a few figures have gone anywhere near the water. The panel itself is tiny, roughly 11 by 25 centimetres, a strip of wood Boudin could hold in one hand, and he set the horizon about two-thirds of the way up so that most of it is sand and clothing. Out at the waterline there are a few dark smudges, sailing boats and a steamer.