Boudin’s Luncheon Grass, the Family of Eugene Manet (1866) is a typical landscape with picnickers.
Unlike Manet’s Luncheon, this is not confrontational or sexual. Because Boudin was a friend of the Manet family, especially Eugène, this picture of them picnicking on the grass may be intended as a family portrait. If so, one of the men would be Eugene; another might be one of his brothers, Gustave or Édouard. If it is Édouard, then one of the women is probably Suzanne Leenhoff, his wife. The other woman might be the mother of Eugénie-Désirée Manet, who might have commissioned the painting. It was inscribed to her. It is a pleasant picnic, nearing sunset, as the family sits on a cloth spread on the grass. Food is on the cloth, but it is not important, and the moment is dominated by a leisurely admiration of the setting sun.
Featured Image: Eugène Eugene Boudin. Luncheon Grass, the Family of Eugene Manet (1866), oil on canvas. Musée d’Orsay, Paris