Joseph Mallord William Turner

Dieppe Castle from the Sea

1845

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of: Dieppe Sketchbook
Medium: Gouache and watercolour on paper
Dimensions: Support: 232 × 332 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D35466
Turner Bequest CCCLX 8

Catalogue entry

This sketch depicts Dieppe Castle from almost the same angle as folio 6 recto (D35465; Turner Bequest CCCLX 7) although loose blue and turquoise watercolour washes in the foreground give the impression of the landmark as viewed from off the coast.1 Unlike that sketch, furthermore, neither underlying pencil drawing nor detailed brush-work are in use here, leaving thin washes to suggest the masses of the architecture and the high chalk cliffs beyond.

For reasons set out in the Technical notes in the sketchbook Introduction, this work appears inverted in relation to the volume as foliated.

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

Verso:

Blank; except for small patches of lilac watercolour transferred from folio 8 recto opposite (D35467; Turner Bequest CCCLX 9).

John Chu
February 2012

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