- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
- Date
- (?) 1800
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 27.9 × 34.9 cm, 11 × 13 ¾ in
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Castle Ruins; Durham and Northumberland; River Scenery
-
- Collection
- Versions
-
Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
(TG1068)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1069
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 189ii as 'Barnard Castle, Durham'; '1798–9'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in October 2017
Provenance
J. Palser & Sons (stock no.14468); bought by Robert Nesham (1846–1928), 16 May 1895; his sale, Christie's, 30 July 1924, lot 51; bought by 'Agnew', 63 gns; Thos. Agnew & Sons (stock no.555); R. Nettlefold; George Beatson Blair (d.1940); his posthumous sale, Christie's, 20 December 1946, lot 23; bought by Thos. Agnew & Sons, £136; presented by the National Art-Collections Fund (The Art Fund), 1947
Exhibition History
Agnew’s, 1925, no.77; Agnew’s, 1931, no.94; Agnew’s, 1952, no.9; Agnew’s, 1953a, no.98; Newcastle, 1982, no.85; Barnard Castle, 1996, p.7; Barnard Castle, 2013, no number
Bibliography
Place depicted
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, National Museums 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

A Town on an Estuary
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence

A Lagoon Capriccio
Birmingham Museums & 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
Lindisfarne Priory, Northumberland (English Heritage)

Kelso Abbey: The West Front
The Whitworth, The 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, The 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 & Museum, Birkenhead

An Unidentified Scene, Formerly Known as ‘Kirkstall Village’
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

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 Art Gallery

Kirk Deighton, near Wetherby
The Whitworth, The 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, The 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 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 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

Storiths Heights, near Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge

Richmond Castle, from the River Swale
Leeds 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 Museums & 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

The Eildon Hills, from the River Tweed
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 Gallery, Sheffield

Lydford Castle, from the River Lyd
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown

St Vincent’s Rocks and the Avon Gorge
The Whitworth, The 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 Pinkney's Farm, Wimbish
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

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
Footnotes
- 1 The details are contained in a letter from Reynolds to Sawrey Gilpin (1733–1807). The letter is transcribed in the Documents section of the Archive (1801 – Item 4).
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About this Work
This is the later of two watercolours showing the ruins of Barnard Castle from the north bank of the river Tees, with the soon-to-be-demolished chapel just about visible on the bridge to the right (the other being TG1069). Both works appear to be based on a sketch made on the spot during Girtin’s first independent tour, to the northern counties and the Scottish Borders in 1796. The untraced sketch would therefore postdate another pencil drawing of Barnard Castle from the Tees that Girtin made at the home of his early patron Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833) (TG0232), which was almost certainly copied from the work of another artist, possibly Thomas Hearne (1744–1817). In contrast, this view, which was taken from further upriver, shows the castle from a slightly different angle and includes less of the buildings to the right. The watercolour must therefore have been based on the untraced on-the-spot sketch rather than the drawing made for Monro, though the process of producing the copy perhaps influenced Girtin’s choice of viewpoint when he finally got to visit the location and sketch it at first hand. That said, it is not clear why Girtin chose to depict the river as such a deep blue when, as a visit to Barnard Castle would have revealed, the Tees at this point takes on a distinctive brownish tone due to the colour of the underlying rocks.
The earlier version of this composition was engraved, and it may actually have been painted specifically for reproduction, so it is interesting to look at the differences with this watercolour to see what they tell us about Girtin’s relationship with the art market, for, if there is one thing of which we can be reasonably sure, this work was not produced on commission. The first thing to note, even though it is not immediately apparent, is the change in proportions, from the standard landscape format of the earlier work to a more upright composition, and this is achieved primarily by compressing each of the lateral elements and adding a little more sky. Here the telling comparison is with the second of the two views titled The River Tweed at Kelso (TG1714, the other being TG1713), which similarly takes a more panoramic river scene and compresses it to create a composition with the same proportions as this, the second Barnard Castle view. In addition to the obvious inclusion of the prominent figure of the fisherman in the foreground, the later view of Barnard Castle sees other changes, the most appealing of which is the shift to a warmer colouring, which creates a very different effect: a bright sunny day with the water sparkling with life. Here, another comparison might be made with the lovely summery effect found in a work that also probably dates from around 1800, Appledore, from Instow Sands (TG1737). Both the Appledore view and the more compact Kelso scene appear to have been made by Girtin for sale on the open market through the efforts of Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835), who acted on behalf of the artist in his final years in a role somewhere between agent and dealer. Although there is no evidence from this work’s provenance, I think this may have been the case with this second Barnard Castle subject as well. This then might be an example of the ‘Drawings by Girtin … smaller size’ that Reynolds valued at £4 4s each and that would have needed to stand alone from their ostensible antiquarian subjects to attract a sale (Reynolds, Letter, 1801).1
It is possible that the early history of this work has been confused with that of a ‘Landscape, with Man Fishing’, which was exhibited at Girtin’s 1875 centenary exhibition, lent from the collection of the artist’s grandson, George Wyndham Girtin (1836–1912) (Exhibitions: London, 1875, no.63). The watercolour remained in the family collection until it was sold at auction in 1884, since when it has not been seen (Exhibitions: Davis, Castleton, Sherborne, 2 December 1884, lot 44). As the only Girtin watercolour with a prominent man fishing, the Barnard Castle view must be a candidate to be the lost drawing, though the measurements given in the 1875 catalogue, 8 ¼ × 10 in (21 × 25.4 cm), do not tally.
(?) 1800
Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
TG1069
1794 - 1795
Barnard Castle and Bridge, from the River Tees
TG0232
1799 - 1800
The River Tweed at Kelso
TG1714
1799 - 1800
The River Tweed at Kelso
TG1713
(?) 1800
Appledore, from Instow Sands
TG1737