- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Kelso Abbey, from the River Tweed
- Date
- (?) 1800
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on wove paper, on an original washline mount of wove paper, mounted on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 11.7 × 21.4 cm, 4 ⅝ × 8 ⅜ in
- Mount Dimensions
- 18 × 28 cm, 7 ¹⁄₁₆ × 11 in
- Inscription
'Girtin' lower left, by Thomas Girtin; 'Kelso Scotland / Girtin delin' on the back of the mount in graphite reinforced with pen and ink by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Colour Sketch: Studio Work
- Subject Terms
- The Scottish Borders; River Scenery
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1705
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in April 2025
Provenance
Christie’s, 18 October 1966, lot 145; bought by ‘Cunliffe’ for 60 gns; then by descent; Sotheby's, 2 July 2025, lot 178, £15,240
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
A River View with Buildings, Possibly in Yorkshire
Preston Park Museum and Grounds, Stockton-on-Tees
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
A Village Scene, Possibly Finchingfield in Essex
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
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Kelso Abbey, from the River Tweed
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
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, Probably Pinkneys 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
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About this Work
This distant view of the ruins of Kelso Abbey rising above the town is taken from the river Tweed looking south east. It was therefore worked from a spot slightly upriver from a more substantial panoramic scene (TG1713) that from its more elevated position omits the abbey. Girtin’s earliest views of Kelso, showing the abbey ruins in close up from the north west, were made after compositions by Thomas Hearne (1744–1817) and they therefore predate his visit to the border town (TG0270). It is possible that this occurred towards the end of Girtin’s northern tour in 1796, but given that the only dated Kelso view is from 1800 (TG1717), the year that the artist stayed at nearby Dryburgh Abbey, it may be that this watercolour as well as the other views of the town seen from the Tweed (TG1715) were painted in the last few years of the artist’s life and stylistically a date of c.1800 would be about right for this work too.
The watercolour’s date is complicated by its ambiguous status, somewhere between a sketch and a studio work. On the one hand, I am confident that the drawing was not coloured on the spot; it is much too carefully worked for that, with multiple layers of wash and a careful consideration given to an equal degree of finish across the sheet. On the other, the work differs in one significant respect to the sketch-like studio works that the artist produced for the market which were cheaper, more informal small-scale watercolours as typified by Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate (TG0372) and Bothal Castle, from the River Wansbeck (TG1089). Thus, in contrast to the view of Pegwell Bay, there is more carefully detailed pencil work than is required for a sketch-like commodity that is characterised by the maximum effect for the least labour. Pencil work like this certainly plays a significant role in delineating areas of trees in an on-the-spot sketch, but is superfluous in the production of a studio watercolour. All of this suggests to me that Girtin took a simple on-the-spot sketch and added colour in the studio to convert the work into a more saleable commodity. It was at this point that the laundresses on the riverside were no doubt added and they tellingly are not outlined in pencil. Looking at the way in which washes of colour have strayed onto the secondary support it is clear that the first part of the process of converting the sketch saw Girtin mounting it onto a sheet of laid paper, adding a simple set of wash lines as a frame. Tellingly, the ruled lines set off the irregular edge of the paper at the top, something which again suggests that the sheet was initially employed for a utilitarian drawing not made for sale. Girtin then signed the work to the left and repeated the process in a more florid and formal style on the back of the mount (figure 1). One final point to stress is that the drawing is on a wove paper, a support that the artist continued to use for his sketches right up to the end of his career, even as he employed laid papers of the type used for the mount here for his studio works.
1799 - 1800
The River Tweed at Kelso
TG1713
(?) 1795
Kelso Abbey, from the North West
TG0270
1800
Kelso Abbey: The West Front
TG1717
1800 - 1801
The River Tweed at Kelso, Looking Upstream
TG1715
1796
Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate
TG0372
1796 - 1797
Bothal Castle, from the River Wansbeck
TG1089