Now known as Environs de Portrieux (The Coast Near Portrieux, Brittany)
1874, Oil on canvas, 85 x 148 cm. Private collection, England

"Let us say to the public that it will find no works there already stigmatized and compromised by rejection. All are original and have not appeared before any jury. As a result, they have not been subjected to dismissive judgments. They stand virginal before the amateur, who has complete freedom to judge them for himself. But don't think these works are poor or of little importance. The catalogue lists 165 paintings, watercolours, etchings, pastels, drawings, and so on. Although some of the artists exhibited are still fighting to be recognized, a certain number have commanded respect for years. One of these is Eugene Boudin, whose beaches and seascapes are being fought over at very high prices."
[Jules-Antoine] Castagnary, Le Siecle, 29 April 1874

"Boudin and Lepine, two artists who are only remotely associated with this tradition, have exhibited seascapes. These paintings could have been predicted from their earlier work, and do not tell us anything new about the artists."
Armand Silvestre, L'Opinion Nationale, 22 April 1874

"The more moderate but no less courageous works by Colin, Rouart, Boudin, Lepine, the younger Ottin or de Nittis, and the watercolours by Lepic, show that we can expect a great deal from this school."
[Philippe Burty], La Republique Francaise, 25 April 1874

"To have invited to exhibit together both those painters who lag at the very tail end of the latest banalities of the official Salons and those who show real talent, but who work in a very different direction-such as de Nittis, Boudin, Bracquemond, Brandon, Lepine, and Gustave Colin-this was a major error in logic and strategy."
Ernest Chesneau, Paris-Journal, 7 May 1874