Iolo Aneurin Williams (1890–1962) was a poet and journalist who collected British watercolours and drawings, including five examples by Girtin. An Unidentified Small Country House or Lodge (TG1560) was typical of his collection, picked up for a modest price from a dealer who had wrongly attributed it, in this case to Henry Edridge (1768–1821). Williams published the fruits of his diligent research as a collector in his Early English Watercolours and Some Cognate Drawings by Artists Born Not Later than 1785, where he described Girtin as ‘one of the greatest members of the English watercolour school, perhaps indeed the greatest of them all’ (Williams, 1952, p.107).

1798 - 1800

An Unidentified Small Country House or Lodge

TG1560