Normandy in northern France has been one of the most popular holiday destinations for Parisians because of its scenic beaches and other attractive natural features. Its location directly across the sea from Britain made Normandy a major battleground in World War II. Normandy, however, also played an important role in the development of modern landscape painting.

The River Seine, which flows through Paris and Rouen and into the sea at Le Havre, has been both a place of leisure and a commercial waterway. Regular liner services started to operate between Britain and the Port of Le Havre in 1826, bringing the historic French townscapes and feudal monuments along the Seine to the attention of British visitors, who found them highly picturesque. Domestic visitors to Normandy also increased when rail services connected Paris and Normandy by 1850. The 19th-century artists who were beginning to venture out of their studios to paint en plein air also flocked to Normandy in search of new subject matter. Normandy, replete with scenic waterside locations illuminated by placid light, became the home of Impressionism, which sought to capture aspects of ever-shifting light along with modern lifestyles expressed in scenes of leisure.

Organized in cooperation with the Musée d’art Moderne André Malraux in Le Havre, this exhibition was the first in Japan to examine the role played by Normandy in the evolution of modern landscape painting. It spotlighted the stretch of the Seine between Rouen and its estuary at Le Havre, and brought together works from museums and private collections across France, as well as Japanese museums.

Exhibits :

• About 100 works (oils, prints and photographs)

Catalogue texts :

• Annette Haudiquet
• Yoshiyuki Furutani

Lenders :

• Le Havre, MuMa - Musée d'Art moderne André Marlaux
• Honfleur, Musée Eugène Boudin
• Other public and private lenders

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Eugène Boudin
Le Bassin de l'Eure au Havre
1885 Huile sur toile
65 x 90cm
Musée d'Art, Histoire et Archéologie, Evreux