This unidentified view, possibly in the Lake District, was in all likelihood made at the home of Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833), where Girtin and his contemporary Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) were employed across three winters, probably between 1794 and 1797. Their task, as they recalled to the diarist Joseph Farington (1747–1821), was to copy ‘the outlines or unfinished drawings of’ principally John Robert Cozens (1752–97), but other artists too, including Girtin’s master, Edward Dayes (1763–1804). The ‘finished drawings’ they were commissioned to produce were the result of a strict division of labour: ‘Girtin drew in outlines and Turner washed in the effects’. As the young artists reported, ‘They went at 6 and staid till Ten’ with Turner receiving ‘3s. 6d each night’ whilst ‘Girtin did not say what He had’ (Farington, Diary, 12 November 1798).¹ The outcome of their joint labours was substantial, amounting to several hundred drawings of which at least twenty are Lake District scenes presumably after compositions by Dayes, including Derwentwater, with Skiddaw in the Distance (TG0778) and Two Trees Overlooking a Meandering River (TG0993) which, as here, both feature a prominent arboreal motif to one side.

Girtin made a number of copies of his master’s views of Lake District scenery during his apprenticeship, including Lake Windermere and Belle Isle (TG0078). Since he was never actually to travel to one of the country’s most popular picturesque regions, for artists as well as their patrons and customers, he based his views on the works of others throughout his career. As with the numerous copies that Girtin and Turner created from compositions by Cozens, it was the slight sketches and outlines that Dayes made on his travels that were used as the sources for their more finished watercolours. Monro’s posthumous sale in 1833 contained several hundred of Dayes’ sketches, including seven ‘Views on the lakes, blue and Indian ink’, as well as depictions of ‘Keswick, Glanton, Patterdale’, all presumably made on his only documented visit to the Lake District in 1789, and there is no evidence that Monro owned any of the older artist’s more substantial studio works (Exhibitions: Christie’s, 2 July 1833, lots 42 and 45). Typically, the precise Dayes source of this view has not been traced, though this does not mean we should look elsewhere for its model. Few of Dayes’ sketches have survived or been identified and, arguably, the fact that no source can be found suggests that it was a thoroughly unprepossessing drawing that was copied.

Monro’s posthumous sale contained more than forty Lake District views, all of which were attributed solely to Turner. Unlike Girtin, Turner did visit the region, albeit briefly, in 1797. However, whilst some of the items in the Monro sale may have resulted from this trip, the majority were noted as being in ‘blue and Indian ink’ and therefore employed the palette generally associated with the Monro School works (traces of blue on the top edge suggest that this work has faded). The attribution of the Lake District views to Turner alone has been increasingly challenged in recent years, following the publication of a pioneering article by Andrew Wilton (Wilton, 1984a, pp.8–23), though Girtin has not hitherto been linked with this work. That is doubly surprising as there are a number of telltale signs in the pencil work that point to Girtin’s hand and the monochrome washes also employ his characteristically understated and laconic style with rapidly applied and watery tones quite unlike Turner’s smaller more careful touches. Consequently, I am inclined to add a question mark next to Turner’s name and suggest that in this case Girtin may have taken the opportunity to add washes to his own outline and try out a thoroughly Dayesian composition.

1794 - 1797

Derwentwater, with Skiddaw in the Distance

TG0778

1794 - 1797

Two Trees Overlooking a Meandering River

TG0993

1791 - 1792

Lake Windermere and Belle Isle

TG0078