This, the larger of two versions of a picturesque farm scene in open countryside (the other being TG1419) has for much of its history been identified as showing a view near Bromley in Kent on the basis of an inscription on the back of the drawing. The inscription, which identifies the distant building as ‘Bromley Church Kent’, is not in Girtin’s handwriting, however, and the tower seen in the watercolour bears no resemblance to that church’s four-square structure. Moreover, the landscape itself, in the absence of any distinctive topographical features, does not appear like the countryside around Bromley either. I suspect, therefore, that the inscription may have been added later and that it resulted from the fact that the watercolour was copied by one of Girtin’s pupils, Amelia Long, Lady Farnborough (1772–1837) (see figure 1), who lived at Bromley Hill House from 1801, painted views of the area and may even have been the first owner of the work. Putting the old title to one side, the flat landscape is actually closer to the open scenery in Essex that formed the backdrop to many of the picturesque farm views that Girtin painted from around 1799, and the two barns shown here have much in common with the thatched structures seen in A Mill in Essex (TG1416), which has a similarly positioned pond in the foreground. The crucial point is not whether the view is in Kent or Essex, however, as the scene is essentially a picturesque view of vernacular buildings, and a topographically specific title is, I suggest, inappropriate in any case.

Sadly, the work is very faded, to the point where the sky (both the clouds and the main areas of blue) has disappeared completely, and the greens of the vegetation have also been lost, leaving no more than a general tone of sepia to dominate. Indeed, the only evidence that we are not looking at an unfinished monochrome drawing is two patches of blue in the distance, which must have been painted in a more stable pigment. No doubt the watercolour has been exhibited in strong light, and this has facilitated the fading process, but fundamentally it was Girtin’s choice of fugitive pigments used in multiple thin washes that caused the problem. Just two unstable pigments, probably blue indigo and yellow gamboge, if used exclusively for the blues of the sky, the greens of the vegetation and the greys of the clouds, would have been enough to account for much of the drastic deterioration seen here as well as for the impression that the work is unfinished, as the underdrawing in graphite shows up clearly. It may therefore be that Long’s copy provides us with the best evidence of the original appearance of the work. Using stable pigments, her view probably replicates the colours used in the composition, though hardly the spirit of Girtin’s original watercolour.

1799 - 1800

Barns and a Pond, Said to Be near Bromley

TG1419

(?) 1799

A Mill in Essex

TG1416