- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- An Ancient Oak, Said to Be on the River Ure
- Date
- 1800 - 1801
- Medium and Support
- Watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 24.4 × 30.5 cm, 9 ⅝ × 12 in
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- River Scenery; Trees and Woods; Yorkshire View
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1692
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 387 as 'On the River Ure, Yorks ... Probably done on the spot'; '1800'
- Description Source(s)
- Exhibition Catalogue
Provenance
J. Palser & Sons; bought by S. H. Robinson, c.1930; then by descent; Sotheby’s, 22 November 1961, lot 59 as 'On the Ure, Yorkshire'; Derek Lockett (d.1993); Trustees of the Clonterbrook Estate, Cheshire
Exhibition History
Manchester, 1965, no.25; Manchester, 1975, no.73; Coventry, 1987, no.98
Bibliography
Hawcroft, 1970, p.32; Clarke, Wright and Barnett, 1987, p.40; Tuck, 1997, p.389
Other entries in Late Watercolours:
Samuel William Reynolds and Painting for the Art Market
An Imaginary City, with Antique Buildings
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Ancient Ruins, with an Obelisk
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Ancient Ruins, with a Gothic Church
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
A Classical Composition, with a Church and Column
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
The Arch of Janus, Rome
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Temple of Clitumnus
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Rome: The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Rome: The Temple of Saturn, with the Arch of Septimius Severus
Private Collection, USA
A Town on an Estuary
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
A Lagoon Capriccio
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
An Unidentified Coastal Landscape with a Windmill
Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight
Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Private Collection
Kelso Abbey: The West Front
The Whitworth, University of Manchester
Jedburgh Abbey, from the Riverbank
The Higgins, Bedford
On the River Medway, with a Boatyard, Beached Vessels and Hulks
Private Collection
Bisham Abbey, on the River Thames
Private Collection
A Classical Composition, with Figures Admiring the Sculptures
The Whitworth, University of Manchester
An Unidentified Ruin next to a Bridge over a Stream, Said to Be Furness Abbey
Touchstones Rochdale
The Gatehouse of Morpeth Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Buildings on the River Nidd, near Knaresborough
British Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Hill
British Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Bridge, Morning
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from the Canal, Evening
Private Collection
A Distant View of Kirkstall Abbey
Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead
Wetherby Bridge and Mills, Looking across the Weir
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills
British Museum, London
Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills
Leeds City Art Gallery
Kirk Deighton, near Wetherby
The Whitworth, University of Manchester
York: The New Walk on the Banks of the River Ouse
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
York: The Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern
The Whitworth, University of Manchester
York: The Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern
Private Collection
York Minster from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
Private Collection
A Farmyard with Barns, Ladder and Figures; A Sky Study
Courtauld Gallery, London
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Leeds City Art Gallery
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Private Collection
Ripon Minster, from the South East
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Ripon Minster, from the South West
Private Collection
The Abbey Mill, near Knaresborough
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Mountain Stream in Spate, Possibly the River Wharfe
Private Collection
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church from across the River Wharfe
Eton College, Windsor
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church, from across the River Wharfe
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church, from across the River Wharfe
Leeds City Art Gallery
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Private Collection
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Private Collection
The Banks of the River Wharfe, with Bolton Abbey in the Distance
Private Collection
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
An Upland Landscape, Identified as Storiths Heights, near Bolton Abbey
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Richmond Castle, from the River Swale
Leeds City Art Gallery
A Farmhouse in Malhamdale, Known as 'Kirkby Priory, near Malham'
British Museum, London
An Ancient Oak, Said to Be on the River Ure
Private Collection
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Private Collection, Norfolk
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Private Collection
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Guisborough Priory: The Ruined East End
Tate, London
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory; The Tithe Barn, Abbotsbury
Private Collection, Norfolk
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Private Collection
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Upland Landscape, Said to Show Etal Castle
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The River Tweed at Kelso, Looking Upstream
Courtauld Gallery, London
Kelso Abbey: The West Front
Private Collection, Northumberland
The Eildon Hills, from the River Tweed at Dryburgh
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
A Distant View of Dryburgh Abbey, with the Eildon Hills Beyond
Private Collection
The Valley of the Tweed, with Melrose Abbey in the Distance
Private Collection
Jedburgh Abbey, from Jed Water
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Jedburgh Abbey, from the South East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Village of Jedburgh
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Southampton: The South Gate and Old Gaol
Private Collection
Bristol Harbour, with St Mary Redcliffe in the Distance
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
A Wharf with Shipping, Possibly at Bristol
Art Institute of Chicago
A Rainbow over the River Exe
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
A Rainbow over the River Exe
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
A Rainbow over the River Exe
Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield
Lydford Castle, from the River Lyd
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
St Vincent’s Rocks and the Avon Gorge
The Whitworth, University of Manchester
On the River Taw, North Devon, Looking from Braunton Marsh towards Instow and Appledore
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Conwy Castle, from the River Gyffin
Private Collection, Norfolk
Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea (The White House, Chelsea)
Tate, London
Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea
Private Collection, Norfolk
A Panoramic Landscape, with Figures Trawling a Pond
Private Collection
Landscape with a Distant Ridge, Possibly Hampstead Heath
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Inn Yard, Edgware Road, Paddington
British Museum, London
The Thames from a Window of the Old Toy Inn, Hampton Court
British Museum, London
The Old Cottage, Widmore, near Bromley
British Museum, London
Shipping on the River Medway
Museum of New Zealand, Wellington
A Farmyard with Cattle, Poultry and Labourers Unloading Hay, Possibly Pinckney's Farm, Radwinter
Art Institute of Chicago
Farmhouse and Outbuildings, Possibly in Essex
Aberdeen Art Gallery
An Unidentified Village Street with a Church Tower in the Distance
British Museum, London
A Panoramic Landscape, Possibly Showing Primrose Hill, London
Private Collection
A Mountain Stream with a Watermill and Bridge
Eton College, Windsor
Unidentified Landscape with a Distant Rain Shower
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
Warkworth Church, with the Bridge Beyond
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
An Italianate Landscape with Two Monks
Private Collection
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About this Work
This evidently faded watercolour, showing an oak tree on the banks of a river, is currently known only from a black and white photograph, which makes it difficult to challenge Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak’s assertion that it was probably ‘done on the spot’ in 1800 (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.187). However, Francis Hawcroft knew the watercolour well and stated that it was a studio work, and that would certainly make sense of the date, since as far as I have been able to make out, the artist’s only trip to Wensleydale took place in 1799, when he dated a sketch of the village of Middleham (TG1508) (Hawcroft, 1970, p.32). That is of course if the watercolour does show a view on the river Ure, since there is nothing in the way of distinctive topographical features to corroborate the title, and no inscription appears to have been recorded either.
The dominant feature of the work, the ancient oak, certainly does not provide any evidence of the location of the view, for, at a time when many artists produced what amounted to portraits of some of the nation’s most venerable trees, Girtin created a singularly unconvincing arboreal image where both branches and foliage fail to follow the most basic botanical principles. It is not surprising, therefore, that when the watercolour appeared in the exhibition The Blasted Oak in 1987, it was in a section on the tree’s ‘Role in Composition’, with the comment that ‘the solitary oak is a useful solid mass to place in the middle ground of a composition and against which recession may be contrasted’ (Clarke, Wright and Barnett, 1987, p.40). Individual trees do sometime feature in the artist’s earliest drawings (TG0174 and TG0285), but, although the example shown here is at least recognisable as an oak, in general Girtin showed no interest in differentiating between species, and it was indeed their role within the composition that was paramount.
1799
Middleham Village, with the Castle Beyond
TG1508
1794 - 1795
A View in Windsor Great Park with Deer
TG0174
(?) 1795
An Unidentified Landscape with a Figure Seated on a Gate under a Tree
TG0285