Envermeu

Envermeu (1924) at the National Galleries Scotland depicts a small Norman town approximately twenty kilometres from Dieppe that Sickert evidently visited during his post-First World War French sojourns. Envermeu is an inland Norman village notable for its medieval church of Saint-Laurent, and Sickert's choice to paint there reflects his willingness to move beyond his characteristic Dieppe circuit into the Norman hinterland. By 1924 Sickert's engagement with France had changed character: the intense productive stays of 1896–1905 had given way to more intermittent visits, and the social world of pre-war Dieppe had been irrevocably altered by the war. The National Galleries Scotland holds this alongside other Sickert French subjects, and Envermeu represents the less-known, more modest strand of his French work — not the fashionable harbour views or the celebrated Dieppe arcades but a quiet inland town that interested him for its specific architectural and atmospheric qualities. The painting demonstrates Sickert's sustained responsiveness to the Norman landscape and built environment beyond the coastal circuit that made his reputation.

Oil on canvas with the tonal and structural approach Sickert brought to all French provincial subjects. The Norman village subject — likely centred on the medieval church or market square — is organised through strong architectural forms set within the characteristic overcast light of inland Normandy.