- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Durham Cathedral, from the South West
- Date
- 1796 - 1797
- Medium and Support
- Watercolour on paper
- Dimensions
- 45.1 × 40 cm, 17 ¾ × 15 ¾ in
- Inscription
‘T. Girtin / Durham’ on the back
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
-
- Collection
- Versions
-
Durham Cathedral, from the South West
(TG0919)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1079
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 236ii as 'Durham Cathedral'; '1797-8'
- Description Source(s)
- Sale Catalogue
Provenance
Sir Charles Long, 1st Baron Farnborough (1760–1838) and Amelia Long, Lady Farnborough (1772–1837); then by descent to Jane Emily Dawson (née Long) (1855–1932); bought by the Squire Gallery, London at a 'Country House sale in Devon'; James Leslie Wright (1862–1954) (lent to London, 1934); then by descent to Hope Keith (Mrs Cecil Keith, née Wright) (1902–83); Thos. Agnew & Sons
Exhibition History
Squire Gallery, 1932, no.11; London, 1934b, no.731; Bucharest, 1935, no.141; Vienna, 1936, no.136; Worcester, 1938, no.35; Birmingham, 1938, no.75; Birmingham, 1939, no.193; London, 1949, no.190; Agnew’s, 1953a, no.28; Worthing, 1963, no.49; Amsterdam, 1965, no.53; Manchester, 1975, no.30; Agnew’s, 1984, no.29; Agnew’s, 1985, no.91; Agnew's, 1988, no.29
Bibliography
Bury, 1934, p.85; Mayne, 1949, p.106; Bury, 1956, pl.1; Bury, 1967, p.16
Place depicted
Other entries in The 1796 Northern Tour to Yorkshire, the North East and the Scottish Borders:
Sketches and Subsequent Watercolours

Bamburgh Castle, from the South
Cragside, Northumberland (National Trust)

Durham Cathedral, from the South West
British Museum, London

The Ouse Bridge, York, from the North Shore
British Museum, London

The Ouse Bridge, York, from Skeldergate Postern
York Art Gallery

York: The New Walk on the Banks of the Ouse
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

York Minster, from the South West
Private Collection

York Minster, from the South West
Private Collection, Yorkshire

York Minster, from the Ouse, with St Mary’s Abbey
Harewood House, Yorkshire

The South Side of York Minster, Showing the Transept and the Western Towers
Private Collection, Yorkshire

York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
British Museum, London

Unidentified Gothic Ruins, Said to Be St Mary’s Abbey, York
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery

A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Private Collection

A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Harewood House, Yorkshire

A Distant View of Rievaulx Abbey
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Private Collection

Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Manchester Art Gallery

Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Richmond, Yorkshire: The Seventeenth-Century House Known as St Nicholas
British Museum, London

Richmond Castle and Bridge, from the River Swale
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino

Richmond Castle and Bridge, from the River Swale
Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool

Richmond Castle and Town, from the South East
Private Collection

Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
British Museum, London

Egglestone Abbey, from the River Tees
Gallery Oldham

Egglestone Abbey, on the River Tees
British Museum, London

Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
The Whitworth, University of Manchester

Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir
Private Collection, Norfolk

Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir; An Unidentified Hilly Landscape
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery

Durham Cathedral, from the South West
Private Collection

St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle upon Tyne
Private Collection

Tynemouth Priory, from the Coast
Cleveland Museum of Art

Bothal Castle, from the River Wansbeck
Private Collection

A River Scene with a Tower, Said to Be the Tyne near Hexham
Leeds Art Gallery

Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Private Collection, Norfolk

The Bridge at Warkworth, with the Castle Beyond
Untraced Works

Dunstanburgh Castle, Viewed from a Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Dunstanburgh Castle: The Lilburn Tower
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne

Lindisfarne: An Interior View of the Ruins of the Priory Church
The Whitworth, University of Manchester

Lindisfarne: An Interior View of the Ruins of the Priory Church
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge

An Interior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Lindisfarne: The Nave and Crossing of the Priory Church
British Museum, London

An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Private Collection

Dryburgh Abbey: The South Transept Looking North
Private Collection, Yorkshire

Dryburgh Abbey: The South Transept from the Cloister
Private Collection

Melrose Abbey: The Ruined Presbytery and the East Window
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown

Melrose Abbey: The Ruined Presbytery and the East Window
Cooper Gallery, Barnsley

Melrose Abbey, from the North East
The Morgan Library & Museum

Jedburgh Abbey, from the North East
Private Collection

Jedburgh Abbey, from Jed Water
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins
British Museum, London

The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins
Private Collection, Bedfordshire

The West Front of Jedburgh Abbey
British Museum, London

Jedburgh Abbey, from the South East
Blickling Hall, Norfolk (National Trust)

The Ruins of the Lady Chapel, near Bothal
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence

Bamburgh Castle, from the Village
Private Collection

St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle upon Tyne
Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool

Richmond, Yorkshire: The Seventeenth-Century House Known as St Nicholas
Private Collection

An Interior View of Fountains Abbey: The East Window from the Presbytery
Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield

St Mary’s, Old Malton, on the River Derwent
Untraced Works

York: Pavement, Looking towards All Saints
Private Collection
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About this Work
This view of Durham Cathedral from the river Wear, with the castle and Framwellgate Bridge in the distance, is one of two versions of a composition that Girtin appears to have painted soon after returning from his first independent tour, to the northern counties and Scottish Borders in 1796 (the other being TG0919). The sketch on which the two works are based, taken from Prebends Bridge, has not been traced, however. In view of this, the possibility that they were actually copied from a composition by Girtin’s master, Edward Dayes (1763–1804), needs to be considered, not least because his drawings formed the basis for the young artist’s two earliest views of Durham (TG0012 and TG0228). Indeed, the former view by Dayes (see TG0012 figure 1) adopts a similar viewpoint, looking from the south west, whilst another of his Durham scenes also seems to have been taken from Prebends Bridge (see figure 1). However, in addition to the fact that both works by Dayes appear to date stylistically from after Girtin’s visit to Durham in 1796, there is one detail that clearly indicates that this view of the cathedral was not made from a sketch by his master. Thus, whilst the two early Girtin copies include the scaffolding around the southern of the two west towers that is shown in Dayes’ view from Prebends Bridge, which he noted in a sketch from his 1789 visit, all of Girtin’s later Durham views omit this detail as restoration work had been completed in the interim. The Dayes view also usefully points up the curious nature of the one significant difference between the two versions of Girtin’s composition, for Girtin has here added a non-existent weir, moving the structure from the other side of Framwellgate Bridge to cut the river at this point. This was possibly done to enhance the composition, though perhaps a simple pun was also intended, a weir on the river Wear being a suitable detail for an artist who was always happy to include visual jokes in his topographical views.
The watercolour was known only as a black and white photograph until the latter stages of the preparation of this catalogue and it is only now that its date to the immediate aftermath of the 1796 trip can be confirmed with a reasonable degree of confidence. The watercolour shares a number of stylistic features with works made from sketches produced on the 1796 tour, such Richmond Castle and Town (TG1067) and the earlier of the two closer views of Durham Cathedral and Castle from the river (TG1075), ranging from similar palettes to comparable treatments of the vegetation and its reflections in the water. There is one detail in particular that the work shares with a number of these early northern views; namely, the reflections of the towers in the river are impossible according to the rules of perspective and were inserted to give an added visual interest. Is it therefore another of Girtin’s jokes that one of the figures seems to point to the reflections? The other version of the composition partially repeats the error, but much less obviously so, and I take this to be a sign that it was painted slightly later. An earlier date in this case might indicate that the work was commissioned from the artist, rather than being produced for sale on the open market, and this has some support from the fact that its first owner, Amelia Long, Lady Farnborough (1772–1837), is known to have taken lessons with Girtin and had a collection containing a number of other watercolours such as The Eagle Tower, Caernarfon Castle (TG1310).
1796 - 1797
Durham Cathedral, from the South West
TG0919
1790
Durham Cathedral, from the River Wear
TG0012
1795
Durham Cathedral, from the River Wear
TG0228
1796 - 1797
Richmond Castle and Town, from the South East
TG1067
1796 - 1797
Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
TG1075
1798 - 1799
The Eagle Tower, Caernarfon Castle
TG1310