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Works Thomas Girtin

A Woodland Scene with a Hind

1800 - 1801

Primary Image: TG1773: Thomas Girtin (1775-1802), A Woodland Scene with a Hind, 1800–01, graphite and watercolour on paper, 10.5 × 15.2 cm, 4 ⅛ × 6 in. Private Collection.

Photo courtesy of Agnew's

Description
Creator(s)
Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
Title
  • A Woodland Scene with a Hind
Date
1800 - 1801
Medium and Support
Graphite and watercolour on paper
Dimensions
10.5 × 15.2 cm, 4 ⅛ × 6 in
Object Type
Colour Sketch: Studio Work
Subject Terms
Animal Study; Trees and Woods

Collection
Catalogue Number
TG1773
Description Source(s)
Sale Catalogue

Provenance

Sotheby's, 5 November 1952, lot 27; bought Spink, £16; ... Thos. Agnew & Sons, 1992

Exhibition History

Agnew’s, 1992, no.27

About this Work

This is one of two slight colour sketches of woodland scenes on paper of similar dimensions that appear to date from towards the end of Girtin’s life (the other being TG1774). Although the works might be linked together as a pair on stylistic and thematic grounds, the likelihood is that they simply came from the same source, one of the ‘4 little Books partly of sketches and partly blank paper’ that John Girtin (1773–1821) discovered in his brother’s studio after his death (Chancery, Income and Expenses, 1804). It seems that John, who must at one point have owned several hundred of the artist’s sketches, including many that he appropriated to recoup the substantial sums of money he had lent his brother, was responsible for splitting up the ‘little Books’ for sale (Smith, 2017–18, pp.35–36). It is unlikely that works such as this were sketched from nature, however, having been produced to meet the demand from collectors for the more informal side of Girtin’s output. Thus, even though one of the sketches is known only from a black and white photograph, it is clear that the dispatch with which they were produced was not a result of the artist seeking to record the appearance of a conveniently, if not suspiciously, posed female deer; rather, it was about creating attractive small-scale commodities from which a sympathetic collector, probably an amateur artist themselves, might trace the stages of their production.

1800 - 1801

The Edge of a Wood

TG1774

by Greg Smith

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