Eugène Louis Boudin (Born 1824 – Died 1898) was a French Impressionist who is considered by collectors and connoisseurs to be among the most significant figures of Impressionist painting. On more than one occasion, his friend Monet Claude said “If I became a painter, it was thanks to Eugène Louis Boudin.” Through his unparalleled illustrative sensitivity to the poetry of sky and sea, he became a leading progenitor of the Impressionist plein air landscape. Boudin was born into an oceangoing family near Honfleur, Normandy. He worked as cabin boy onboard the steamer that sailed between Honfleur and Havre across the Seine estuary. In 1835, he moved together with his family to Le Havre, and here his father established himself as a stationer and frame-maker. The following year, Boudin began work as an assistant to his father but later he opened his own small shop. In the course of his work, he came into contact with many artists who were working in the area.
He also exhibited in his shop the paintings of Jean-François Millet and Constant Troyon, who, along with Thomas Couture and Jean-Baptiste Isabey, encouraged him to follow an artistic career. He abandoned the world of commerce at the age of 22 and travelled to Paris where he began painting exclusively. At the age of 26, Boudin earned a scholarship which allowed him to take permanent residence in Paris. The 17th-century Dutch masters influenced him profoundly and upon meeting Johan Jongkind, the Dutch painter, he was advised by his new friend to paint “en plein air” (outdoors). In the 1870s, his growing reputation enabled him to travel extensively. He visited southern France, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
