Dieppe Castle

1845

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment

Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of: Dieppe Sketchbook
Medium: Graphite, gouache and watercolour on paper
Dimensions: Support: 232 x 332 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D35477
Turner Bequest CCCLX 19

Catalogue entry

In this sketch, Turner takes in the western side of Dieppe Castle as viewed from the top of the chalk cliffs west of the harbour. Distinctions in colour have been made between the different elements of the structure and its terrain. The approach bridge, the tall southern tower, and its cliff-top footing are picked out in various shades of rose while the bulk of the castle is washed over in a single shade of light ochre.1 In the background, Dieppe’s plane unfolds to terminate, beneath a fresh blue sky, in vast the easterly chalk cliffs.

For the castle’s history, see Claude Féron, Dieppe, Paris 1981, pp.22–3.

Verso:

Blank; except for an upside-down ‘5’ inscribed in faint red ink at the top left of the page.

John Chu
February 2014

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