The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
YMSM 331
Blue and Grey: Dieppe
Date
Blue and Grey: Dieppe is assumed to date from Whistler's visit to Dieppe in the autumn of 1885, and was exhibited in Whistler's one-man show, 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Second Series, Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1886 (cat. no. 28). 1
Images
Blue and Grey: Dieppe, Whereabouts unknown
Subject
Titles
Only one title is known, with varying punctuation:
- 'Blue and grey – Dieppe' (1886, Dowdeswell). 2
- 'Blue and Grey: Dieppe' (1980, YMSM). 3
'Blue and Grey: Dieppe' is the preferred version.
Description
It was presumably a scene of sea and sand.
Site
Dieppe, a ferry port and popular tourist town on the coast of France.
Technique
Technique
Unknown.
Conservation History
Unknown.
Frame
Unknown.
History
Provenance
Unknown.
Exhibitions
- 1886: 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Second Series, Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1886 (cat. no. 28) as 'Blue and grey – Dieppe'.
The value of 'Blue and grey Dieppe' was estimated by Dowdeswell at a modest £18.0.0 but it was finally priced £20.0.0 by Whistler. 4 It may be the same picture exhibited in the following year as Bleu et argent: Dieppe y332.
The Illustrated London News on 15 May 1886 commented:
'At Messrs. Dowdeswell’s Gallery (133, New Bond-street) there is a somewhat remarkable exhibition of Notes—Harmonies and Nocturnes,” by Mr. J. McN. Whistler, which display all that versatile artist’s merits and faults. The difficulty in estimating such works is to know for certain when Mr. Whistler is in earnest, and when he is simply imposing on the public. For instance, there are here at least half score of works which belong to the former category; among such are the "Sands at Dieppe" (1)," ... "Dieppe" (28), "The Sad Seashore" (43), "La Cour de L'Hôtel" (46), "The Sweet-Shop" (49), … For such as these we can only express an unfeigned admiration.'
Bibliography
Catalogues Raisonnés
- Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 (cat. no. 331) as 'Blue and Grey: Dieppe'.
Authored by Whistler
- None.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Second Series, Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1886 (cat. no. 28) as 'Blue and grey – Dieppe'.
Newspapers 1855-1905
- Anon., 'The Whistler Exhibition', Illustrated London News, London, 15 May 1886, p. 14.
Journals 1855-1905
- None.
Monographs
- None.
Books on Whistler
- None.
Books, General
- None.
Catalogues 1906-Present
- None.
Journals 1906-Present
- None.
Websites
- None.
Unpublished
- None.
Other
- None.
Notes:
1: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 331).
2: 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Second Series, Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1886 (cat. no. 28).
3: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 331).
4: Annotated catalogue, GUL Whistler EC1886.