Eugène Boudin and lifelong friend Claude Monet spent time together in the 1870s in Le Havre in North-West France where Twilight over the basin of Le Havre is set. It was during this time that Monet painted his masterpiece Impression, Sunrise, for which the Impressionism art movement is named for.
Eugène Boudin’s Twilight over the basin of Le Havre is of the same subject manner – the port of Le Havre, however this time at dusk. Very similar in style and set-up, we can see a full moon center of frame lighting up the chimneys of factories and houses as well as ship masts.
Eugène Boudin painted Twilight over the basin of Le Havre sometime between 1872 – the time when Monet painted Impression, Sunrise, and 1878. The two painters spent time working together in Le Havre.
Boudin, who is 16 years Monet’s senior, met him when Monet was 18 years old and they became friends. It was Boudin who encouraged Monet to move into landscape painting. Eugène Boudin specialized in marine painting, known as the ‘king of the skies’.
Eugène Boudin’s Twilight over the basin of Le Havre can be found in the Musee du Havre in Le Havre, France.