Cotmania. Vol. VI. 1930-31

Sept 12. 1930. Boswell took me to the Cotmans of J.A.Christie
M.P (a descendant of the auctioneer, & the vendor of Gainsborough's
portrait of Christie a couple of years ago.) The fine oil
of (The 4 Windmills C.1825) is ill-hung over a
mantlepiece & hard to see. It is almost brutal in
its strength, a great piece of work.
He also has a dull & rather faded w.c. 'Shipping at
the Mouth of the Thames.' C.1831.
He also has some sepia's.
***(1) 'Entrance to the Castle of Dieppe, J.S.Cotman 1817.'
Mounted on the usual Normandy brown mount.
This is one of the most patterned
& studied of his Normandy drawings.
It is very successful. It may
have been made from the same
sketch as the engraving (frontispiece) 'Castle of Dieppe' in
D.Turner's Tour in Normandy.
but it only gives the left side
of the picture & the whole thing is
much altered, the emphasis
being on the depth, finishing with
a woman washing at the bottom of the moat.
[Sketch}