Signed, dated and dedicated in pen and ink To Miss Campbell/Walter Sickert/1898 (lower right), and inscribed La Rue Notre Dame Dieppe (lower left).
Literature: W. Baron in Sale Catalogue, Christie’s, 20th Century British Art, London, South Kensington, 7 October 2008, lot 40.
Provenance: Gifted by the artist to Miss Campbell, hence by descendance;
Christie’s Sale, 20th Century British Art, London, South Kensington, 7 October 2008, lot 40.
Dieppe, a lively coastal town in Normandy, France, had been the location of many family holidays for Sickert as a child and became his second home as an adult. After separating from his first wife Ellen Cobden, Sickert moved to Dieppe in 1898, and remained there until his return to London in 1905. The present drawing represents one of the artist's favourite subjects in Dieppe: a view of the narrow Rue Notre Dame toward the church of St Jacques.
According to Wendy Baron, “the date of this dedication is exceptionally interesting because it suggests that Sickert devoted himself to this subject from 1898, and not 1899 as has been previously thought. There are nine known watercolours by Sickert of this corner of the rue Notre Dame and Sickert gave several of these to friends, including the present work.”
In 1909 Sickert interpreted the same subject in an etching, a fine impression of which is displayed in our exhibition.
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