White and Grey: La Cour de l'hôtel, Dieppe, framed

White and Grey: La Cour de l'hôtel, Dieppe dates from Whistler's sojourn in Dieppe in the autumn of 1885. 1

It is not entirely clear how long Whistler was in Dieppe in 1885 nor how many pictures he painted there (examples include White and Grey: La Cour de l'hôtel, Dieppe [YMSM 325], Coast Scene: Bathers [YMSM 326], Harmony in Blue and Pearl: The Sands, Dieppe [YMSM 327], and Green and Violet: The Evening Walk, Dieppe [YMSM 328]).

Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1942) was married on 10 June 1885 and after a honeymoon on the continent took the Maison Goude at 21 rue de Sygogne, Dieppe. Whistler joined them there in the summer, probably after a trip to Holland in August. A reference in the diary of George Aloysius Lucas (1824-1909) shows that Whistler was certainly in Dieppe in the middle of September, visited Lucas for one day on 16 September, and was back in Dieppe by 18 September.

The painting was first exhibited at 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Second Series, Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1886 (cat. no. 46).

Théodore Duret (1838-1927) told Knoedler's that he thought this was painted in Brittany in 1893, but this was incorrect. 2