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The Musée de Dieppe received its first works by Flemish and Dutch masters at the end of the nineteenth century, thanks to the gift of the sculptor Pierre Graillon, which included paintings by Jan van Goyen and Frans de Backer. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the collection was enhanced by additional works with a mythological or religious theme, such as a Head of John the Baptist (anonymous) and paintings from the circles of David Teniers and Peter Paul Rubens, including a Deluge Scene. In 1960, this group of works was supplemented by Abraham Storck’s drawing The Galley.

Between 1960 and 1990, the museum adopted an ambitious acquisitions policy, supported by the Musée du Louvre, which was aimed at boosting its northern schools collection. This campaign resulted in the accession of major works such as Fishmongers by Joachim Beuckelaer, a Witmont grisaille (Naval Combat), and works by Jeronymus van Diest, Peeter Boel, Jan Dubbels, and Abraham van Beijeren. Faithful to its maritime identity and reflecting its geographical mooring, the museum favors still lifes with fish and scenes of shipwrecks where other institutions might place an emphasis on game and landscapes.

This group of works was further augmented by three deposits of marine scenes—by Jan Karel van Beecq, Salomon van Ruysdael, and Reinier Zeeman—from the Musées Nationaux. Those by Ruysdael and Zeeman form part of the body of works (with Musées Nationaux Récupération status) recovered after the Second World War.

Finally, two major works of more recent date now complement the collection of older works: The Wave by Hendrik Willem Mesdag, an iconic figure in Dutch maritime painting of the nineteenth century, and L’Écuyère, a portrait of Edmée Davis by Kees van Dongen, evincing an openness to extending the pictorial tradition of the Low Countries into the modern era.

Pierre Ickowicz, Curator (May 2025)