This badly faded view of Berry Pomeroy Castle in Devon was attributed to Girtin by Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak in their catalogue of the artist’s watercolours, and they dated it to 1797–98 – that is, to the immediate aftermath of his West Country tour (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.166). They were presumably inclined to overlook the work’s poor condition and relative weakness because it had been in the ownership of the family since the time of the artist’s son, Thomas Calvert Girtin (1801–74). However, not all of the watercolours owned by Thomas Calvert came from his father’s studio, and he also purchased works of varying degrees of authenticity on the open market. Therefore, when Susan Morris came to catalogue the watercolour after it entered the collection of Paul Mellon (1907–99), she understandably included it in the section of ‘Drawings Formerly Attributed to Thomas Girtin’ as a ‘copy, possibly by William Pearson of Girtin's watercolour in the Bacon collection’ referring to TG1269 (Morris, 1986, p.51). Leaving to one side the question of the attribution for the moment, I want to take issue with the second part of Morris’ conclusion, for though the drawing at the Yale Center for British Art does indeed repeat elements of the smaller version of the work, including the seated figure and the disposition of the trees to the left, it also includes a prominent and unique feature found in a second watercolour (TG1270), the expressive form of the dead tree to the right. This was probably the version that was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1798 (Royal Academy, London, 1798, no.343) and it only reappeared at auction in 1994 after the publication of Morris' catalogue.

Initially, at least, I was more convinced by Morris’ suggestion of William Pearson (1772–1849) as the possible author of the work, but the opportunity to examine it again has clarified my thoughts and I now suspect that its manifest weaknesses may be more plausibly related to its badly faded condition. Rather than being a copy, therefore, I now suspect that it is a later version of the composition shown at Royal Academy (TG1270) and that its very faded condition, much like the later watercolour in the Bacon collection (TG1269), stems from the artist's shift to a more fugitive palette after 1798. Admittedly, we have to make even greater allowances in this case compared with the rather more assured work seen in TG1269, but this still seems more plausible than ascribing the work to Pearson with no clear stylistic or documentary evidence to back up the assertion. I am reminded of the similar example of the changes in the status of a work long attributed to Girtin, A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle-upon-Tyne (TG1704a). Again, I initially believed it to be a copy, but a greater understanding gained over many years of the detrimental effects of extreme fading and discolouration has persuaded me to revert to the older attribution and I now wonder if the generation of Girtin scholars following Girtin and Loshak, led by Tom Girtin (1913–94), was not a little too keen to protect the artist's reputation by invoking the name of Pearson in cases where a work had been efffectively ruined.

1798 - 1799

Berry Pomeroy Castle

TG1269

1797 - 1798

Berry Pomeroy Castle

TG1270

1797 - 1798

Berry Pomeroy Castle

TG1270

1798 - 1799

Berry Pomeroy Castle

TG1269