This view of a row of boathouses on the beach at Dover, with the castle beyond, is one of three versions of a composition (the others being TG1471 and figure 1) that was probably copied from an outline drawing by the amateur artist John Henderson (1764–1843) at the home of Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833). Girtin is not known to have visited Dover and all of his views of the town were copied after other artists, including his master, Edward Dayes (1763–1804). Henderson, who visited the port in the autumn of 1794, is known to have lent his ‘outlines’ to Monro so that they might be copied by the young artists the latter patronised (Farington, Diary, 30 December 1794). The ‘outlines of Shipping & Boats’ Henderson made in Dover, described by the diarist Joseph Farington (1747–1821) as ‘Very ingenious & careful’ (Farington, Diary, 1 December 1795), provided the basis for as many as a hundred views of the port and its environs, including the same stretch of buildings seen from the harbour in Dover Harbour: The Stern of a Large Ship, and Smaller Vessels (TG1473), which Girtin produced with his collaborator at Monro’s house, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851).

Although the Dover subjects produced at Monro’s home were attributed to Turner at the patron’s posthumous sale in 1833, many of those that have since been identified are, as with the other version of this composition, now given jointly to Girtin and Turner. There is no evidence that this work was sold at the Monro sale, however, and nor too is there any indication that Turner was involved in its production. The pencil work is clearly by Girtin, but he too seems to have been responsible for the colour washes, which are too summary and unmodulated for Turner; moreover, the drawing employs a very different palette from the blues and greys of the typical Monro School Dover subjects to which Turner contributed. The more naturalistic colouring encouraged the artist’s great-grandson, Thomas Girtin (1874–1960), and David Loshak to include this ‘transitional’ work in their catalogue as one of a handful of Monro School subjects that are ‘wholly the work of Girtin’ (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.205). It appears, therefore, that in addition to producing an outline for Turner to copy, Girtin was sufficiently taken by Henderson’s composition to make a version for himself, possibly as a source for a future studio watercolour.

Overlaying images of this more colourful work and TG1471 shows that as well as making a number of adjustments to the composition, Girtin added a number of figures, including a fisherman who, having climbed the ladder, is shown securing a sail on the roof to dry. This is just the sort of marine activity that Henderson delighted in recording, so perhaps Girtin excluded the detail in the version for Turner to colour for Monro. In fact, there is some evidence not only that Monro was not the recipient of Girtin’s drawing but also that it ended up in the possession of his other major early patron, James Moore (1762–99), and as such the work is of some significance. The artist’s great-grandson records that the work was bought from Moore’s descendants (Girtin Archive, 39), and if that was the case it is likely that Girtin coloured his outline drawing specifically for a patron who owned and appreciated drawings such as An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital (TG0240), which similarly purports to be a spontaneous sketch. Given that Girtin did not visit Dover and that the outline drawing must have been copied from a secondary source, what we appear to be looking at is an early example of a commodity that the artist developed around 1796: a colour work produced in the studio with much of the apparent dispatch and spontaneity of an on-the-spot sketch.

Of the two other versions of this composition, much the stronger is that in the collection of The Whitworth, Manchester (see figure 1). Indeed there is some doubt about the status of the drawing catalogued as TG1471, with the differences in details and proportion, as well as its poor quality, suggesting that it might even be the Henderson source from which Girtin developed his altogether more sophisticated work. The Whitworth watercolour, in contrast, displays clear evidence of Girtin’s superior draughtsmanship, but although the washes of colour are not of the highest standard, I am still inclined to believe that this is one of the more reticent examples of Turner’s contribution to their collaborations at Monro’s home.

1795 - 1796

Dover: Beached Boats, with the Castle Beyond

TG1471

1795 - 1796

Dover Harbour: The Stern of a Large Ship, and Smaller Vessels

TG1473

1795 - 1796

Dover: Beached Boats, with the Castle Beyond

TG1471

1795 - 1796

An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital

TG0240

1795 - 1796

Dover: Beached Boats, with the Castle Beyond

TG1471