- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Bridgnorth
- Date
- 1802
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 61.4 × 93.9 cm, 24 ⅛ × 37 in
- Inscription
‘Girtin 1802’ lower centre, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Large Framed Work; Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- River Scenery; Shropshire View; The Country Town
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1755
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 260ii
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001, 2002 and 2018
Provenance
William Leader (1767–1828) (lent to SPWC, 1823); John Temple Leader (1810–1903); his sale, probably Christie’s, 18 March 1843, lot 58 as 'View of the old Bridge at Gloucester - evening scene'; bought by Chambers Hall (1786–1855), £16; presented to the Museum, 1849
Exhibition History
SPWC, 1823, no.203 as ’Bridgenorth’; London, 1985, no.84; London, 1993, no.152; London, 2002, no.179
Bibliography
Kitton, 1887, p.364; Monkhouse, 1890, pp.45–46; Binyon, 1898–1907, no.56; Binyon, 1900, p.19; Sparrow, 1902, p.82; Gibson, 1916, p.220; Stokes, 1922, p.75; Davies, 1924, p.74, pl.95; Binyon, 1933, p.107; Hardie, 1934, p.11; Girtin and Loshak, 1954, pp.88–89; Finley, 1965, p.119; Herrmann, 2000, p.43
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
Revisions & Feedback
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About this Work
This powerful watercolour, one of only a handful of dated works from the last months of Girtin’s life, shows the old Severn Bridge at Bridgnorth in Shropshire, seen in the light of dawn. Bridgnorth is on the main route between London and North Wales, and many artists both amateur and professional, including Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) (see figure 1), John Sell Cotman (1782–1842) (see TG1357 figure 2) and Joseph Farington (1747–1821) (see TG1357 figure 1), stopped to sketch the picturesque bridge with its old toll house and cottage. This large watercolour departs from the standard representation of the town, however, in order to create a more monumental and sublime image, and in this way Girtin eschewed his own characteristic approach to urban river scenes as seen in The Ouse Bridge, York (TG1649). The key compositional difference is established in the original on-the-spot pencil drawing (TG1357), where Girtin adopts a low and close viewpoint at an angle to the bridge. This means that both the bridge itself and the modestly proportioned house upon it loom above us, and the main subject is not relegated to the middle ground. This close viewpoint leads to uncomfortable effects such as the apparently inconsistent level of the water, but this is not a perspectival error so much as one of the consequences of the radical foreshortening caused by the artist’s adopted position. This effect is also seen in other earlier architectural subjects, such as Bamburgh Castle (TG1104), and it must be remembered that the pencil sketch on which this work is based may date from as early as 1798. This was about the time that Girtin was copying a number of etchings by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–78), including The Arch of Janus (see source image TG0885), and the monumental central vertical accent here reflects his influence as well as the application to a humble picturesque structure of a principle hitherto employed to convey the grandeur of ancient monuments. As a number of writers have commented, Girtin may also have been influenced by the colouring of the great Dutch artist Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–69), and specifically his The Mill (see TG1451 figure 1), which the young artist may even have seen during its exhibition in London in 1793–94 (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, pp.87–88; Wilcox, 1993, pp.16–17). The sombre tonality (dominated by greys, blues and deep browns), the dark sky giving way to an area of dim light and the jagged silhouette of the buildings all have parallels in Rembrandt’s work, helping to reinforce the drama of the composition.
Such a large and imposing work such as Bridgnorth was surely produced as a commission and equally that it was designed to be close-framed in the same way as the four similarly sized views of Harewood House and surrounding sites that Girtin produced for Edward Lascelles (1764–1814) in 1801 (such as TG1548). The artist charged twenty guineas for each, and, if anything, the densely worked washes of colour seen here, which give the watercolour the depth and resonance of an oil painting, probably required even more labour; such a major undertaking was not something that could have been embarked on without first securing a wealthy buyer. The first owner of the watercolour appears to have been William Leader (1767–1828), who is known to have acquired other works by the artist, but it has not been possible to determine whether he actually commissioned the Bridgnorth view and, if so, whether he had a personal interest in the subject, as Lascelles did with the works produced for him. This is of some interest because it has been suggested that Girtin went to an uncharacteristic deal of trouble to get the architectural details correct, going as far as to update the pencil drawing that he presumably made during the course of his visit to North Wales in 1798 (TG1357) so as to take into account recent changes to the bridge, including the removal of the toll house seen in the engraving after Turner’s view (published in 1794) (see figure 1). Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak suggest that Girtin updated his drawing in 1802 in preparation for the watercolour on the grounds that the demolition work on the bridge is said to have been carried out in 1801 (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.169). However, for reasons that I discuss at length in the catalogue entry for the drawing, I now believe that this took place as early as 1797 and that a local historian quoted by the earlier authors used Girtin’s 1802 watercolour to fix the date of the work to the bridge, rather than consulting the documentary sources. If this was indeed the case, then it seems that Girtin recognised the dramatic potential of Bridgnorth as a subject but had to wait for four years to find a patron interested in financing a work on a suitable scale.
On a technical note, the paper historian Peter Bower has identified the support used by Girtin as a white laid writing paper by an unknown English manufacturer, worked on the artist’s favoured wireside, where the surface is impressed with the lines of the mould used in its manufacture (Smith, 2002b, p.230; Bower, Report). The work is in good condition, though a series of small tears around the edges may have been the result of the drawing having originally been stretched on a wooden support, as was commonly the case with large watercolours framed for display.
1800
The Ouse Bridge, York
TG1649
(?) 1798
The Old Severn Bridge at Bridgnorth
TG1357
1798 - 1799
Bamburgh Castle
TG1104
1799 - 1800
The Arch of Janus
TG0885
(?) 1801
Harewood House, from the South East
TG1548
(?) 1798
The Old Severn Bridge at Bridgnorth
TG1357