Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851)
Dieppe: A View down the Grande Rue from the Quayside,
ca. 1826–27
Watercolor on paper
6 3/4 x 9 1/2 in. (17.1 x 24.1 cm)
Tate; Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
© Tate, London 2016
In this view of the Grande Rue, the avenue that leads to Dieppe’s interior, Turner focuses on the grandeur of the city’s architecture. With careful attention to light and shadow, the buildings’ geometric forms are evoked in diffuse, overlapping bands of yellow, pink, and purple pigments. In Harbor of Dieppe, this thoroughfare is seen in the background, thronged with people.