It was only a fleeting movement, lasting little more than two decades between the 1860s and 1880s, yet Impressionism brought together an extraordinary ensemble of artists that changed the course of art history forever. Some of the most famous names ever to have found their way onto a canvas – Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Boudin – their work hangs in every major art gallery in the world.
It’s difficult to understand what all the fuss was about, but in the 19th century the work this group of artists produced was viewed as revolutionary. Sidelined by the mainstream artistic world, they decided to organise their own exhibition in 1874. It caused a scandal, reviewers were scathing. It was Monet’s painting, Impression, Sunrise, that the term Impressionism came from. Originally, it was a term of abuse.
One of Honfleur’s most famous sons, the artist Eugène Boudin, was one the earliest of the Impressionists, and he became a major influence on the movement and in particular on Claude Monet. His presence in the town saw a steady trickle of other convention-defying artists visit Honfleur to paint seascapes and the exquisitely preserved town and harbour. It’s anyone’s guess what the people of Honfleur thought about it all.
Boudin was an early pioneer of the ‘en plein air‘ style of painting, where an artist worked entirely in the open air rather than from sketches in a studio. The captivating light of the northern coast was one of the main draws for the Impressionists, and it still lures artists today. The camera phone may have replaced palette and easel for most, but we spotted a few people ‘en plein air’ painting scenes around the town.
These artistic associations are celebrated in the small but excellent Eugène Boudin museum. In addition to two galleries dedicated to the work of Boudin, the museum has works by Monet and other Impressionist contemporaries. There are also numerous 19th and 20th-century works that depict Honfleur, its harbour and street life, as well as coastal scenes, seascapes, and landscapes of the Normandy countryside.
Walking around the town, it’s not difficult to see the attraction of Honfleur for artists. The bell tower of the Church of Saint Catherine features prominently in many paintings, and with good reason. This is the oldest wooden church in France. Dating to the 15th century, it’s something of a miracle that it has survived. One reason is that the bell tower was built across the square from the church, so a lightning strike wouldn’t damage the building.
The square in which the church sits was been a marketplace for centuries, and several paintings depict market scenes. It’s still used for that today, except when we were there two of the buildings on the harbour had suffered a catastrophic interior collapse and were in danger of coming crashing down. This would have put people on the harbour and at the market at risk, so the market was moved.
The harbour is another main feature of paintings of Honfleur. It is extraordinary that it has survived in such good condition (although, as our landlady said, if the two buildings collapse the whole thing could go like dominoes). Fishing boats are now confined to the outer harbour but in centuries past, they would have unloaded their catch here. It was fun walking around after studying 19th century pictures of Honfleur.
No trip to the town would be complete though without taking a stroll along the coast to which so many great artists have been drawn. The day had been cloudy and a bit rainy, but as we walked the cloud cleared and the sun illuminated the ocean and beach. Boats sailed past on their way into the open sea, and across the bay the vast cranes of Le Havre harbour – now the major port on this coast – glinted in the sun. It was a real ‘en plein air’ day.
