Léon-Henri-Marie Frédéric (1856–1940)
Heist, ca. 1905

Oil on canvas laid down on board
McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Gift of Charles Hack and the Hearn Family Trust

Jeffery Howe
Professor Emeritus, Art History

The sandy Belgian coast had long been popular with Belgian artists. Frédéric focuses on the undulating dunes near the North Sea resort town of Heist, now known as Knokke-Heist. Painted in the open air, he applies the paint freely and fluidly. Beyond the undulating dunes, red-roofed houses can be seen as well as a typical church steeple on the Belgian coast.