- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- (?) Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- A Barn with a Figure, Cattle and Poultry
- Date
- 1796 - 1797
- Medium and Support
- Graphite on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 19.5 × 26.7 cm, 7 ⅝ × 10 ½ in
- Object Type
- Outline Drawing
- Subject Terms
- Picturesque Vernacular
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG0924
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001, 2008 and March 2023
Provenance
Charles Stokes (1785–1853); then by descent to Thomas Hughes; then by descent to his neice, Alice Ellen Hughes; her sale, Sotheby's, 28 November 1922, lot 149 as by Joseph Mallord William Turner; bought by Sir Robert Clermont Witt (1872–1952), £6; bequeathed to the Gallery, 1952
Exhibition History
London, 2008, no.6 as by Joseph Mallord William Turner
Other entries in First Steps as a Professional Artist:
James Moore and British Antiquities
An Ancient House, Possibly in Sussex
Newport Museum and Art Gallery
An Interior View of the Ruined East End of Tynemouth Priory Church
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Jedburgh Abbey, from the East
Private Collection
Craigmillar Castle, near Edinburgh
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Exeter Cathedral, and St Mary Major
The Mellon Bank Collection, Pittsburgh
Stonehenge during a Thunderstorm
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The East End of Tynemouth Priory Church
Private Collection
Kidwelly Castle
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Ludlow Castle: The Gatehouse
Private Collection
Dumbarton Rock and the Castle, from the North West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Jedburgh Abbey, from the East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Interior of the Albion Mills, Southwark, after the Fire
Private Collection
Kinloss Abbey: The Abbot's House
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Conwy Castle, Looking West
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Duff House, from the South
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Unidentified Round Tower
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
Glasgow Cathedral, from the North East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Part of the Ruins of Alton Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Private Collection
The Albion Mills, Southwark, after the Fire
Newport Museum and Art Gallery
Bamburgh Castle, from the East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ruins of the East End of St Andrews Cathedral
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Touchstones Rochdale
Colchester Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Great Keep, Kenilworth Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Castle Rock, Edinburgh
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
London: The Demolition of the Old Porch of the Guildhall
London Metropolitan Archives
The Gatehouse, Denbigh Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Kirkstall Abbey, from the South East
Private Collection
Buildwas Abbey
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
The West Front of Brechin Cathedral, with the Round Tower
Private Collection
The Great Gate, St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Conwy Castle: The Bakehouse Tower
Private Collection
Lindisfarne Priory Church, Looking West from the Choir
Tate, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from the North West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Tithe Barn at Abbotsbury, with St Catherine's Chapel on the Hill
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Kirkstall Abbey, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Dunstaffnage Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Spynie Palace, near Elgin
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Dunnottar Castle in a Thunderstorm
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Part of the Ruins of Croxden Abbey, from the East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Great Keep, Kenilworth Castle, with Leicester's Gatehouse in the Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Battle Church, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
The Gatehouse, Denbigh Castle
Private Collection
The Ruins of Lewes Castle, from the West
Private Collection
Ewell Church, with a Funeral Procession Approaching
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Rustic Figures in a Landscape, with Pigs
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
St Peter's Church, Bexhill, from the East
Private Collection
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Cow Grazing near a Pond, with a Church Tower Beyond
Private Collection
Duff House, from the River
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Landscape with a Shepherd and Flock
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
Melrose Abbey, from the South West
Private Collection
A Cottage, Said to Be near Battle in Sussex
Private Collection
Ely Cathedral, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Private Collection
The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Private Collection
Lindisfarne Priory Church, Looking West from the Choir
Private Collection, Scotland
Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Pevensey Castle: The North Tower with the Gatehouse in the Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Spire of Salisbury Cathedral, from Chorister's Green
Private Collection
The Landgate, Rye
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Landgate, Rye
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Strand Gate, Winchelsea
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The West Tower, All Saints' Church, Hastings
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Rochester Castle, from the South
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Byland Abbey
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
All Saints' Church, Hastings, from the North East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Ancient House, Possibly in Sussex
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Kenilworth Castle: The View from the South East
Private Collection
Kenilworth Castle: The View from the South East
Private Collection
Tolleshunt D’Arcy Church
Private Collection
St Peter's Church, Bexhill, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ruined Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle, Seen from the North
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Saltwood Castle: The Gatehouse
Private Collection
The Ruined Gatehouse, Pevensey Castle, from the East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ruined Gatehouse, Pevensey Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Gatehouse, Battle Abbey
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
Carlisle Cathedral, from the South West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Gatehouse, Battle Abbey
Private Collection
St Mary the Virgin, Eastbourne
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Unidentified Landscape with a Figure Seated on a Gate under a Tree
Private Collection
The West Front of Crowland Abbey
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Crowland Abbey
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Pevensey Castle: View of the North and East Towers
Private Collection
The Ruins of the Great Hall, Kenilworth Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
All Saints' Church, Hastings, from the North West
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Refectory, St Martin’s Priory, Dover
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Saltwood Castle: The Gatehouse from a Farmyard
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Spynie Palace: A Coastal View
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
St Clement's Church, with Hastings in the Distance
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The East End of the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Private Collection
The East End of the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Tower, St Clement's Church, Hastings; Studies of a Horse in Harness and Numerous Architectural Details
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Undercliff, near Hastings
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ypres Tower, Rye
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Unidentified Village with a Half-Timbered House
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Hastings: The View across the Beach to Castle Hill
Hastings Museum and Art Gallery
Hastings Castle and Priory Bridge
Hastings Museum and Art Gallery
Tolleshunt D’Arcy Church
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Battle Abbey Gatehouse, from the South West
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
St Clement’s Church, Sandwich, from the North
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
St Peter's Church, Bexhill: The West Tower
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Glasgow Cathedral, from the South West
Bolton Museum and Art Gallery
The East End of Icklesham Church
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Refectory, St Martin’s Priory, Dover
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
The Gatehouse of Beckingham Hall, Tolleshunt Major
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Glamis Castle (Macbeth's Castle)
Private Collection, Norfolk
One of the Alard Monuments in the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
One of the Alard Monuments in the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate
Harvard Art Museums / Fogg Museum, Loan from George and Patti White
A Thatched Barn with Farm Animals
Private Collection
A Timber-Frame House with a Hill Beyond
Tate, London
A Farmyard with Pigs Drinking at a Pond
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
A Barn with a Figure, Cattle and Poultry
Courtauld Gallery, London
Malmesbury: The Market Cross
Athelstan Museum, Malmesbury
An Unidentified Country Church and Churchyard
Private Collection, Norfolk
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About this Work
This drawing of a thatched barn has always been attributed to Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) and, indeed, there is a signed watercolour of the same subject by Girtin’s great contemporary (see figure 1). Unfortunately, the watercolour has not been seen in public for many years and it is known only from a poor black and white photograph, and we do not even have a record of its dimensions. The two works are clearly closely related, as can be demonstrated by overlaying their images: every detail of the architecture and the farm scene, down to the chickens and the cattle, matches up precisely, and this has inevitably suggested to some that the pencil drawing was produced by Turner as a study for the watercolour. This hypothesis is problematic on a number of grounds, however, not least because there is no incontrovertible proof that the watercolour is by Turner and that the signature, for instance, is genuine. The first stumbling block relates to the sheer quantity of detail included in the drawing, which is incompatible with Turner’s sketching practice, as seen, for example, in figure 2. In sketches such as this contemporary view of a mill, Turner was typically content to record the minimum of information needed to execute a studio watercolour when details such as the cattle, chicken and a figure would have been improvised. If not an on-the-spot sketch, then it is equally unlikely that the pencil drawing was produced in the studio in preparation for the watercolour: a small-genre scene was not the sort of high-value commodity that could justify the expenditure of time and effort involved in another stage in its production. Equally problematic for the notion that the drawing has a clear, direct relationship to Turner’s watercolour are questions about its authorship. In her catalogue entry for the work, Joanna Selborne notes that Andrew Wilton has suggested that the right-hand cow may be by Girtin, rather than Turner (Selborne, 2008, p.53). Assuming that the drawing is not a highly improbable collaboration, I would go a step further and argue that the whole of it is actually by Girtin, citing the example of the comparable drawing The Refectory, St Martin’s Priory, Dover (TG0298). The sheer range of inventive marks employed by the artist, combined with the subtle shifts in the pressure applied to the graphite, which result in an engaging variety of tones, are more typical of Girtin’s superior skill as a draughtsman, I suggest.
As is so often the case, the key to establishing the attribution of this drawing lies as much with understanding its function as with the issue of the artist’s personal style. In the present case, this means recognising that the drawing is not an on-the-spot sketch but a copy of a work by another artist, and that in all probability it was therefore produced at the home of Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833). It is not, I hasten to add, a copy by Girtin after the watercolour (though it may predate the pencil drawing), but rather both works were made after a common source. It certainly makes no more sense for Girtin to have copied Turner’s watercolour than it would for Turner to have made such a detailed pencil drawing as well. However, such was the scale of copying at Monro’s house – Girtin and Turner were responsible individually and jointly for as many as four hundred copies after a large number of artists – that it is likely that this was the location of the production of this drawing. A comparison with another view of a picturesque thatched barn with numerous farmyard figures by Girtin (TG0913) is instructive here. That work was possibly made after an untraced drawing by Thomas Hearne (1744–1817), and it may be that he provided the model here too, both for Girtin’s drawing and for the watercolour. If that should prove to be the case, we may find that the watercolour, if or when it reappears, may yet turn out to be a Monro School collaboration between Turner and Girtin. That would indeed explain how two identical versions of the same subject, in pencil and in watercolour, came to be produced by the two artists either individually or in combination. Such was the prevalence of copying and collaborating between Girtin and Turner at this juncture in their careers that attributional problems are inevitable and some must remain unresolved, as here, pending further information.
Image Overlay
(?) 1795
The Refectory, St Martin’s Priory, Dover
TG0298
1794 - 1795
A Thatched Barn with Farm Animals
TG0913