The Port of Boulogne by Moonlight
The Port of Boulogne by Moonlight | |
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Artist | Édouard Manet |
Year | 1868 |
Medium | oil on canvas |
Location | Musée d'Orsay, Paris |
The Port of Boulogne by Moonlight or Moonlight over the Port of Boulogne (French - Le Clair de lune sur le port de Boulogne) is an 1868 work by Édouard Manet. The work is now in the Musée d'Orsay.[1]
Historical and astronomical research has demonstrated that it was produced about midnight on the night of 3–4 August 1868 from a window of the Hôtel Folkestone on the quay at Boulogne-sur-Mer during one of the artist's regular summer stays in the town.[2] It shows a fishing boat returning at night, watched by the fishermen's wives. Its shadows and light pay tribute to the work of Rembrandt.[3]
Presentation
Before the rise of the Côte d'Azur, the Parisian elite often spent their summers on the coast of the Channel. For example, Manet, who came from a wealthy family, stayed several times in Boulogne, where he painted many seascapes. In 1868 or 1869 the painter stayed at the Hôtel Folkestone, which overlooked the harbour. This is where Moonshine emerged over the port of Boulogne, which Manet later elaborated in his studio. Although the painting is often dated to 1869, 1868 is more likely, as the work was already on display at an exhibition in Brussels at the beginning of the summer of 1869.
The painting can be seen as a tribute to Dutch landscape painting and in particular to Aert van der Neer. Manet owned a work by this painter, who specialized in night scenes. However, Manet's casual painting style is far removed from Van der Neer's precise technique.
Moonshine over the port of Boulogne has a somewhat mysterious aura. The moonlight shines over a forest of masts and sails in the harbor. On the quay, a group of seven women in traditional costumes close together awaits the return of the fishing boats. Closer to the water's edge, a few men are still in the shade.
See also
- List of paintings by Édouard Manet
- 1868 in art
References
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- List of paintings
- The Barque of Dante (1854–1858)
- Christ the Gardener (1856–1859)
- The Absinthe Drinker (1859)
- Spanish Cavaliers (1859)
- Portrait of Madame Brunet (1860)
- Portrait of Monsieur and Madame Manet (1860)
- The Spanish Singer (1860)
- Boy Carrying a Sword (1861)
- La Nymphe surprise (1861)
- The Street Singer (1862)
- Music in the Tuileries (1862)
- The Old Musician (1862)
- Portrait of Victorine Meurent (1862)
- Mademoiselle V. in the Costume of an Espada (1862)
- Little Lange (1862)
- The Luncheon on the Grass (1863)
- La Négresse (1863)
- Olympia (1863)
- Young Man Dressed as a Majo (1863)
- The Dead Man (1864))
- The Bullfight (1864–65)
- The Dead Christ with Angels (1864)
- The Kearsarge at Boulogne (1864)
- The Battle of the Kearsarge and the Alabama (1864)
- The Races at Longchamp (1865)
- Jesus Insulted by the Soldiers (1865)
- Bullfight (1865–66)
- Bullfight – Death of the Bull (1865)
- The Matador Saluting (1866)
- The Fifer (1866)
- A Young Lady in 1866 (1866)
- The Execution of Emperor Maximilian (1867)
- Portrait of Emile Zola (1868)
- Boy Blowing Bubbles (1868)
- Madame Manet at the Piano (1867–68)
- The Balcony (1868)
- Luncheon in the Studio (1868)
- The Reading (1868)
- The Port of Boulogne by Moonlight (1868)
- Departure of the Folkestone Steamer (1869)
- The Brioche (1870)
- Repose (1870)
- The Funeral (1870)
- Effect of Snow on Petit-Montrouge (1870)
- Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets (1872)
- Tarring a Boat (1873)
- The Railway (1873)
- The Croquet Game (1873)
- Masked Ball at the Opera House (1873)
- Argenteuil (1874)
- Berthe Morisot with a Fan (1874)
- Claude Monet Painting in his Studio (1874)
- Boating (1874)
- Portrait of Marguerite de Conflans (c. 1876)
- Portrait of Stéphane Mallarmé (1876)
- Le Suicidé (1877–1881)
- Nana (1877)
- Plum Brandy (c. 1877)
- The Rue Mosnier Dressed with Flags (1878)
- Blonde Woman with Bare Breasts (c. 1878)
- Chez Tortoni (c. 1878–1880)
- Georges Clemenceau (Fort Worth) (1879)
- Georges Clemenceau (Paris) (1879)
- Chez le Père Lathuille (1879)
- Portrait of Marguerite Gauthier-Lathuille (1879)
- In the Conservatory (1879)
- Madame Manet in the Conservatory (1879)
- The Waitress (1879)
- Corner of a Café-Concert (1879)
- The Café-Concert (1879)
- Self-Portrait with Palette (1879)
- A Bundle of Asparagus (1880)
- A Sprig of Asparagus (1880)
- Portrait of Countess Albazzi (1880)
- Portrait of Monsieur Pertuiset the Lion-Hunter (1881)
- Dead Eagle Owl (1881)
- The Rabbit (1881)
- Rochefort's Escape (1881)
- Spring (1881)
- Autumn (1882)
- A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1882)
- The House at Rueil (1882)
- Flowers in a Crystal Vase (1882)
- White Lilacs in a Glass Vase (1882)
- A Studio at Les Batignolles (1870 painting)
- Bazille's Studio (1870 painting)
- The Impressionists (2006 series)