Bathing Time at Deauville 1865

Eugène Boudin painted *Bathing Time at Deauville* using oil paint, a traditional fine art material made by suspending pigment in drying oil. Boudin was celebrated as a master of skies, capturing their fleeting atmospheric conditions with loose brushwork. But it’s the application of oil paint that gives the scene its character, allowing Boudin to evoke the heaviness of the air and the dampness of the sand. The clothing is also carefully articulated, capturing the stiff formality of the bourgeoisie at leisure. Boudin’s beach scenes, so different from academic painting, captured a new kind of experience - modern life. The ability to spend time and money on leisure activities indicates a shift in social structures and the rise of a middle class with disposable income. The artist's focus on the clothing and accoutrements is a nod to the growing consumer culture of the time. By using his skills to depict the costumes of his time, he elevated fashion and leisure to the level of fine art.