Boudin, Eugène (1824-1898)
La princesse Pauline de Metternich sur la plage (Princess Pauline Metternich on the Beach)
c.1865–1867
Oil on cardboard, laid down on wood, 29.5 x 23.5 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Pauline Metternich, wife of the Austrian ambassador at the court of Napoleon III, was a famously homely yet chic style icon known for her sense of wit; she was said to have referred to herself as “the fashion monkey.” Boudin achieved success with his scenes of stylishly dressed families taking the sea air at Trouville and other beach resorts, and apart from Empress Eugénie, no woman would have aroused more interest on the beach than her friend Princess Metternich. (MET)
See also:
• Metternich, Pauline von (1836-1921)