View of Dieppe Harbor

This panoramic vista represents the northern French city of Dieppe, its gothic church prominent at center and its cliffs and chateau visible in the distance at left. Vollon applied the watercolor with a very wet brush pulled swiftly across the paper. The bold strokes of light blue in the sky suggest rapidly passing clouds and strong winds of salt air. Wearing headdresses, billowing skirts, and clogs, the two women in the foreground are residents of a longstanding fishing community in Dieppe that was characterized in the literature of the period as a simple, pre-industrialized society. The inscription indicates that Vollon gave this sheet to the wife of the writer Alexandre Dumas fils.