Giovanni Boldini
Italian, 1842–1931
Return of the Fishing Boats, Étretat
1879
The village of Étretat, on France’s Normandy coast, is famous for its picturesque rock formations, which are visible in the background of Boldini’s painting. Rather than focusing on the cliffs, as many artists did, Boldini concentrated on the beach, where locals and elegantly dressed visitors have gathered by a fishing boat to assess the day’s catch. This meticulously detailed painting captures the mixed character of the village—part fishing community, part tourist destination.
Medium | oil on panel |
Dimensions | 5 1/2 × 9 7/16 in. (14 × 23.9 cm) Frame: 10 1/4 × 14 1/8 × 2 in. (26 × 35.9 × 5.1 cm) |
Object Number | 1955.647 |
Acquisition | Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955 |
Status | On View |
Image Caption
Giovanni Boldini, Return of the Fishing Boats, Étretat, 1879, oil on panel. Clark Art Institute, 1955.647
Select Bibliography
Lees, Sarah, ed. Nineteenth-Century European Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven and London: distributed by Yale University Press, 2012. Doria, Bianca. Boldini: Catalogo Generale dei Disegni. Milan: Skira, 2000. Panconi, Tiziano. Giovanni Boldini: L'Opera Completa. Firenze: Edifir Edizioni Firenze, 2002.
EUROPEAN PAINTINGS CATALOGUE ENTRY
Provenance
J. J. Brown, The Woodlands, Reigate (his sale, Christie’s, London, 3 Apr. 1909, no. 4, as The Fish Auction, Etretat, sold to Wallis & Son; [Wallis & Son, London]; Morgan Wing, Tuxedo Park, New York, sold to Knoedler, 1929; [Knoedler, New York, sold to Clark, 30 Apr. 1929, as Return from Fishing]; Robert Sterling Clark (1929–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955.