A Street in Dieppe, France

A Street in Dieppe, France

Samuel Hieronymous Grimm (1733-1794)
A Street in Dieppe, France

Signed lower centre:
S.H. Grimm fecit 1771
pen and grey ink and watercolour heightened with gum arabic on laid paper with pen and ink border
28 by 38 cm., 11 by 15 in.

Born in Switzerland, Grimm, settled in Paris in 1765, to study in the studio of Jean-Georges Wille. He remained there for three years before moving to London. During his time with Wille, Grimm undertook several sketching tours including possibly to Dieppe, as well as travelling to England from Dieppe.

The present watercolour which appears to show a street in the area of Dieppe known as Le Pollet, with the Château de Dieppe in the distance, was probably based on on-the-spot sketches made by the artist. Grimm often worked in small sketchbooks and these studies were then used as an aid-memoire whilst working up his finished studio watercolours. As with the present work, he would sometimes return to these sketchbooks years later.

There is another watercolour of a street in Dieppe in the Laing Art Gallery, dated 1770.