Cows in a Field 1883

Eugène Boudin made "Cows in a Field" with oil paint on canvas. Notice how Boudin’s brushwork captures the weight and bulk of these animals, anchoring them to the earth. The paint is applied with visible strokes, almost as if he were modeling the cows in clay. The materiality of the paint—its thickness and texture—plays a crucial role in conveying the scene’s sense of place and time. Consider that painting *en plein air*, or outdoors, was becoming increasingly popular in Boudin’s era, thanks in part to innovations like pre-mixed paints in tubes, an early example of industrializing art. It allowed artists to capture fleeting moments of light and atmosphere. Boudin wasn’t just painting cows; he was capturing a moment in the history of art itself, when new technologies were changing how artists worked and how we perceive the world around us. It is a reminder that even seemingly simple scenes are embedded in broader histories of labor, production, and change.