- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Guisborough Priory: The Ruined East End
- Date
- 1801
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 62.9 × 50.8 cm, 24 ¾ × 20 in
- Inscription
‘Girtin 1801’ lower left, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Monastic Ruins; Yorkshire View
Provenance
Stephen Francis Rimbault (1773–1837) (lent to London, 1823, for sale); John Temple Leader (1810–1903); his sale, Christie’s, 18 March 1843, lot 47 as 'Gisburne Abbey; a very grand drawing'; bought by 'Tiffin', £10 10s; Samuel Addington (1806–86) (lent to London, 1877); his posthumous sale, Christie’s, 22 May 1886, lot 26 as 'Gisburgh Abbey, Yorkshire'; bought by 'Palser', £31; J. Palser & Sons (stock no.2807); bought by W. Walters, 22 May 1886; Robert Walters; the posthumous sale of his widow, Hampton & Sons, 19 June 1913, lot 757; bought by 'Harper', 82 gns; Christie's, 27 April 1917, lot 68; unsold at £44 2s; bought privately by Herbert Powell (1863–1950), 12 September 1917; entrusted to the National Art-Collections Fund (The Art Fund), 1929; presented to the Tate Gallery, 1967
Exhibition History
London, 1823, no.12; London, 1877, no.308; Leeds, 1937, no.24; Agnew’s, 1953a, no.1; National Art-Collections Fund Tour, 1947-, no.64; Manchester, 1975, no.81; London, 2014, no.11
Bibliography
Hughes, 1931, no.64; Hardie, 1938–39, pp.93–94; Mayne, 1949, pp.55–56, p.102
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
The website will be updated from time to time and, when changes are made, a PDF of the previous version of each page will be archived here for consultation and citation.
Please help us to improve this catalogue
If you have information, a correction or any other suggestions to improve this catalogue, please contact us.
About this Work
This imposing watercolour, showing the late thirteenth-century east end of the priory church of Guisborough in North Yorkshire, was realised from a pencil drawing in the Whitworth Book of Drawings (TG1612). This was produced whilst Girtin was staying with Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave (1755–1831), at Mulgrave Castle, probably in the summer of 1800 after his visit to Edward Lascelles (1764–1814) at Harewood House, and it was Lascelles who commissioned a slightly larger version of the composition, which is dated 1801 (TG1698). This watercolour, although on a reduced scale, actually shows an extended view of the ruins and is closer to the original sketch, with more of the trees included to the right, and it is likely to date from later. Thus, although there is no clear stylistic evidence to confirm this, Girtin would not have produced another version ahead of his remunerative and prestigious commission from Lascelles. In some ways, it is actually quite surprising that Girtin found a second buyer for a subject type that he had not treated recently, since although the ruined east end is an impressive fragment, the site was not a regular destination for picturesque tourists or artists and, as David Hill has argued, it had a particular association for the Lascelles family (Hill, 1999, p.63). Indeed, Girtin’s composition looks back to his experience of working for the antiquarian market in the early part of his career, and in particular to the view of the east end of Walsingham Priory that he made for Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833) from an outline drawing by another early patron, the antiquarian and amateur artist James Moore (1762–99) (TG0244). Working now on a large scale, Girtin was able to enhance the ruin’s monumental character, and the introduction of an evening effect, albeit spoilt by the work’s faded condition, extends the associations evoked by the scene, though the composition itself is little changed from his earlier work. The effect of a scene at dusk is particularly badly served by the work’s faded condition, so that although, as with the other version of the composition painted for Lascelles, there are no melancholic associations despite the fact that the view is taken from the graveyard of the adjacent church of St Nicholas, the evening light no longer illuminates the red sandstone in the same attractive way, and the vegetation has sunk to a lifeless monochrome.
Girtin’s contemporary John Constable (1776–1837) made a pencil copy of the lower part of the composition (see figure 1), and this has been dated to the early part of his career (Reynolds, 1996, vol.1, p.67). This would appear to have been produced from this smaller watercolour as it contains much more of the composition to the right, including the distinctive form of the tree trunk, though it is also possible that Constable worked from Girtin’s pencil sketch. If it was the latter, it is not clear how the artist got access to Girtin’s drawing, though the same might also be said about the watercolour. However, there is just a possibility that Constable actually owned the work, as a ‘Landscape with a ruined Abbey’ by Girtin was included in his posthumous sale, and he is known to have possessed two or more other watercolours by the artist, in addition to one at least of the Paris prints (Exhibitions: Foster’s, 12 May 1838, lot 525; Christie’s, 17 June 1892, lots 10 and 269). Having said that, it is still more likely that Constable came across Girtin’s work in the collection of one of Girtin’s patrons, and Sir George Howland Beaumont, 7th Baronet (1753–1827) is the most probable candidate, having supported both artists.
(?) 1800
Guisborough Priory: The Ruined East End
TG1612
1801
Guisborough Priory: The Ruined East End
TG1698
1795 - 1796
The Ruined East End of Walsingham Priory Church
TG0244