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Works Thomas Girtin and Joseph Mallord William Turner after (?) John Henderson

A Fishing Vessel with Hastings Beyond

1794 - 1797

Primary Image: TG0808a: Thomas Girtin (1775–1802) and Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) after (?) John Henderson (1764–1843), A Fishing Vessel with Hastings Beyond, graphite and watercolour on wove paper, 28 × 19.9 cm, 11 × 7 ⅞ in. Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery (1953P407).

Photo courtesy of Birmingham Museums Trust

Description
Creator(s)
Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) and Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) after (?) John Henderson (1764-1843)
Title
  • A Fishing Vessel with Hastings Beyond
Date
1794 - 1797
Medium and Support
Graphite and watercolour on wove paper
Dimensions
28 × 19.8 cm, 11 × 7 ¾ in
Object Type
Collaborations; Monro School Copy; Work after an Amateur Artist
Subject Terms
Sussex View; Coasts and Shipping

Collection
Catalogue Number
TG0808a
Description Source(s)
Viewed in June 2024

Provenance

P & D Colnaghi & Co.; James Leslie Wright (1862–1954); presented to the Museum, 1953

Exhibition History

London, 1949, no.225 as 'Old Harbour, Dover' by Joseph Mallord William Turner

Bibliography

Rose, 1980, p.61 as 'Old Harbour, Dover' by Joseph Mallord William Turner

About this Work

This view of a fishing vessel with a view of Hastings beyond displays many of the signs that mark the unique collaboration between Girtin and his contemporary Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) at the home of Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833). Here the two artists were employed across three winters, probably between 1794 and 1797, to copy ‘the outlines or unfinished drawings of’ principally John Robert Cozens (1752–97), but other artists too, including the patron’s neighbour, the amateur John Henderson (1764–1843), who lent his ‘outlines for this purpose’ (Farington, Diary, 30 December 1794). Henderson visited Dover in the autumn of 1794 and the ‘outlines of Shipping & Boats’ he made there, described by the diarist Joseph Farington (1747–1821) as ‘Very ingenious & careful’, provided the basis for a substantial number of copies commissioned by Monro (Farington, Diary, 1 December 1795). As with the copies the artists made after the sketches of Cozens, ‘Girtin drew in outlines and Turner washed in the effects’, with Turner receiving ‘3s. 6d each night’ though ‘Girtin did not say what He had’ (Farington, Diary, 12 November 1798).

Another version of the composition showing the same fishing vessel but with a view of Dover in the background instead is in a private collection (TG0808). Working from a photograph I erroneously catalogued this drawing as an anonymous copy of TG0808, but having now viewed it I am confident that it is a good if somewhat damaged example of a collaboration between Girtin and Turner. That the distant view shows Hastings and not Dover as has always been assumed is confirmed by comparing the waterfront settlement seen here with Hastings: A Beached Fishing Boat (TG0854). Thus, rather than being an anonymous copy as I previously argued, the work takes on a new significance as compelling evidence of Girtin’s willingness to adapt his source material and combine motifs from different locations. Moreover, given that there is no proof that Henderson travelled to Hastings in Sussex, it may be that Girtin took his view of the town in both TG0854 and this work from a drawing by his other significant early patron, James Moore (1762–99). Girtin’s sketch of Hastings: The View Across the Beach to Castle Hill (TG0314) is likely to have been based on a drawing by Moore as the church of All Saints, seen here beyond the fishing vessel, was the subject of three on-the-spot pencil drawings by Moore all of which Girtin appears to have worked over to improve his patron’s insecure perspective (TG0227, TG0245 and TG0297).

None of the works sold at Monro’s posthumous sale in 1833 were listed as showing Hastings and it is likely that this drawing was therefore amongst the Dover views that were attributed to Turner alone. The pioneering article published by Andrew Wilton in 1984, established the joint authorship of such works as the norm, but this watercolour was still listed as solely by Turner in the most recent catalogues of the collection at Birmingham (Wilton, 1984a). Despite the fact that the drawing has faded and discoloured, it is still possible to make out Girtin’s characteristic pencil work, particularly in the foreground vessel. Turner’s economical addition of a limited range of washes of colour, not least across the middle ground where the buildings are located, leaves space for Girtin’s outlines to make sense of a jumble of forms

1795 - 1796

Figures on a Fishing Vessel in Dover Harbour

TG0808

1795 - 1796

Figures on a Fishing Vessel in Dover Harbour

TG0808

1795 - 1796

Hastings: A Beached Fishing Boat

TG0854

1795 - 1796

Hastings: A Beached Fishing Boat

TG0854

1793 - 1794

Hastings: The View from East Hill Looking towards the Castle and West Hill

TG0314

1795

The West Tower, All Saints’ Church, Hastings

TG0227

(?) 1795

All Saints’ Church, Hastings, from the North East

TG0245

(?) 1795

All Saints’ Church, Hastings, from the North West

TG0297

Place depicted

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