Lighthouse at Honfleur 

Eugène Boudin painted this small canvas of the Lighthouse at Honfleur with oil on canvas. Boudin used ready-made materials, from pre-mixed paints in tubes, to pre-primed canvases, all products of the industrial revolution. Look closely, and you'll see a study of the atmosphere, from the damp sand to the gathering clouds. Boudin's quick brushstrokes were ideal for en plein air painting – that is, working outdoors. This approach was encouraged by the new availability of transportable materials. The painting, therefore, is not only a representation of a site; it also reflects the modernization of artistic production. There is an unpretentious directness in Boudin's technique, a rejection of academic polish. This was only possible because painting had been brought into the world of everyday commerce, and because artists were free to work in the landscape, responding to nature and modern life as they found it.