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John Henry Twachtman Catalogue Raisonné
An online catalogue by Lisa N. Peters, Ph.D., in collaboration with the Greenwich Historical Society

Catalogue Entry

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Additional Images
Sailing Boats, Dieppe Harbor, ca. 1884 (OP.708). Fig. 1. "Dieppe.—'La Tamise' [The Thames] dans l'Avant Port," ca. 1900, postcard, Greenwich Historical Society archives.
Fig. 1. "Dieppe.—'La Tamise' [The Thames] dans l'Avant Port," ca. 1900, postcard, Greenwich Historical Society archives.
Keywords
OP.708
Sailing Boats, Dieppe Harbor
Alternate titles: Boats at Dieppe; Harbor of Dieppe
ca. 1884
Oil on panel
13 1/2 x 15 1/2 in. (34.3 x 39.4 cm)
Signed lower left: J. H. Twachtmann; and lower right: J. H. Twachtman–
Curtis Galleries, Minneapolis, Myron Kunin Collection of American Art
Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art
Provenance
(Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, New York, Twachtman–Weir sale, February 7, 1889, lot 46, as Harbor of Dieppe, 13 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.);
(Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, January 24, 1973, lot 108, as Boats at Dieppe);
to (Spanierman, 1973);
to (Schweitzer Gallery, New York);
private collection, Massachusetts;
(Hammer Galleries, New York);
to George Albrecht, 1986;
to (Sotheby’s, New York, May 5, 2002, lot 30);
to present collection, 2002.
Exhibitions
1885 J. Eastman Chase's Gallery probably
J. Eastman Chase's Gallery, Boston, Paintings by John H. Twachtman, February 10–20, 1885, no. 3, as Boats at Dieppe.
1889–I Fifth Avenue Art Galleries probably
Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, New York, Paintings in Oil and Pastel by J. Alden Weir and J. H. Twachtman, February 1–7, 1889, no. 46, as Harbor of Dieppe, 13 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.
2006 Spanierman
Spanierman Gallery, New York, John Twachtman (1853–1902): A "Painter's Painter," May 4–June 24, 2006. (Nelson 2006); (Parkes 2006); (Peters 2006–I); (Peters 2006–II); (Peters 2006–III); (Peters 2006–IV), no. 16, as Sailing Boats, Dieppe Harbor, shown only in New York. Traveled to: Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich, Connecticut, July 13–October 29, 2006.
Literature
Studio 1889
"Paintings and Pastels by J. H. Twachtman and J. Alden Weir." Studio 4 (February 1889), pp. 43–44, as Harbor of Dieppe.
Art Amateur 1889–I
"The Weir and Twachtman Exhibition." Art Amateur 20 (March 1889), p. 75, as Harbor of Dieppe.
New-York Tribune 1889–II
"Pictures by Messrs. Weir and Twachtman." New-York Tribune, February 7, 1889, p. 7, as Harbor of Dieppe.
Sun 1889–II
"Weir and Twachtman Pictures." Sun (New York), February 8, 1889, p. 3, as Harbor of Dieppe.
Hale 1957
Hale, John Douglass. "Life and Creative Development of John H. Twachtman." 2 vols. Ph.D. dissertation, Ohio State University, 1957. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms, 1958, vol. 2, p. 453 (catalogue G, no. 230), as Harbor of Dieppe. (Hale concordance).
Sotheby Parke Bernet 1973
Americana. Auction catalogue, January 24, 1973. New York: Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1973, lot 108 ill. in b/w, as Boats at Dieppe.
Peters 1995
Peters, Lisa N. "John Twachtman (1853–1902) and the American Scene in the Late Nineteenth Century: The Frontier within the Terrain of the Familiar." 2 vols. Ph.D. dissertation, City University of New York, 1995. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International, 1996, vol. 1, pp. 167, 202, 254; vol. 2, p. 706 ill. in b/w (fig. 167), as Sailing Boats, Dieppe Harbor.
Sotheby's New York 2002–I
American Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture. Auction catalogue, May 22, 2002. New York: Sotheby's, 2002, lot 30 ill. in color, as Boats at Dieppe.
Peters 2006–IV
Peters, Lisa N. "Catalogue." In John Twachtman (1853–1902): A "Painter's Painter", by Lisa N. Peters. New York: Spanierman Gallery, 2006. Exhibition catalogue (2006 Spanierman), pp. 110–11 ill. in color, as Sailing Boats, Dieppe Harbor.
Commentary

Twachtman spent time in Dieppe during the summer of 1884, when he resided with his family in the nearby town of Arques-la-Bataille. Here he depicted Dieppe's Outer Harbor (the Avant-Port) that led into an enclosed inner harbor. The view is probably looking northwest toward the cliffs that continued along the English Channel (fig. 1). At first the scene appears devoid of movement, as the ship in profile is horizontal to the picture plane, while its masts and their reflections establish a compositional grid. However, gradually the viewer is made aware of the presence of a sailboat heading into an inner part of the harbor, toward the cliffs, while the small sailboat in front of the larger ship begins to catch the breeze as it heads out on the water in the opposite direction. Throughout the image, Twachtman incorporated the red-brown tone of the work's panel into his design to create atmosphere, depth, and surface luminosity. 

The painting was shown in Twachtman's 1885 solo exhibition at J. Eastman Chase's Gallery, Boston, as Boats at Dieppe. In 1889, it was listed as Harbor of Dieppe in the sale of the work of Twachtman and Julian Alden Weir at the Fifth Avenue Art Galleries in New York. There, a critic observed that it hung at the end of the gallery. Describing it as the "admirable little 'Harbor of Dieppe," the critic went on to note: "Another artist in treating the latter subject might have labored zealously to realize the water and or bring out the modelling and even many details of the vessel at anchor, but Mr. Twachtman has omitted nothing of genuine of pictorial value, and nothing essential to the general truthfulness of his picture."[1]

The painting was purchased from the sale for $80, but its buyer is unknown.[2] There is no evidence that was exhibited again until 2006.

[1] New-York Tribune 1889–I.

[2] New York Sun 1889–II,