Eugène Boudin Exhibition: Father of Impressionism - Seeking the Light

About this event

This exhibition introduces the artistic career of Eugène Boudin (1824–1898), a 19th-century French painter known as the "pioneer of Impressionism" and "father of Impressionism." Boudin is renowned for depicting the skies, seascapes, and pasture cows of his native Normandy with fresh colors and light brushstrokes. His creative method of directly observing nature outdoors and portraying transient light and atmosphere had a profound influence on contemporary painters, including the young Claude Monet, eventually leading to the birth of Impressionism. In particular, his rendering of skies and clouds was described by poet Baudelaire as a "meteorological beauty of the world" and praised by Barbizon school painter Corot as the "king of skies." Marking his first full-scale exhibition in Japan in 30 years, this exhibition features approximately 100 works—including oil paintings, drawings, pastels, and prints—while also highlighting motifs like human figures and architecture, re-examining the charm of Boudin, who greatly contributed to the development of modern landscape painting, from a new perspective. The exhibition approaches Boudin's appeal through eight themes: "Seascapes," "Skies," "Landscapes," "Architecture," "Animals," "Figures," "Drawings," and "Prints."

Venue

Gunma Museum of Modern Art

Inside Gunma no Mori Park, 992-1 Watanukimachi, Takasaki, Gunma 370-1293