Beach at Trouville

Traditionally called 'A Squall from the West', this painting probably shows the beach at Trouville. This sketch was presumably painted on the spot on 7 April, perhaps in the 1890s. The bleak mood of this empty beach is in contrast to the crowded beach scenes that Boudin painted on other occasions. This feature of the painting can be compared with Courbet's beach scenes of the 1860s (e.g.'The Sea Near Palavas').