- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) after (?) James Moore (1762-1799)
- Title
-
- Kirkstall Abbey, from the North West
- Date
- 1792 - 1793
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on wove paper, on an original washline mount
- Dimensions
- 17.2 × 21.9 cm, 6 ¾ × 8 ⅝ in
- Mount Dimensions
- 25 × 29.8 cm, 9 ¾ × 11 ¾ in
- Inscription
‘Girtin’ lower centre, by Thomas Girtin; 'Began erecting A.D. 1152' on the back of the mount left centre, by James Moore; 'Kirkstall Abby' | '8' on the back, centre right
- Object Type
- Work after an Amateur Artist
- Subject Terms
- Monastic Ruins; Yorkshire View
Provenance
James Moore (1762–99); his widow, Mary Moore (née Howett) (d.1835); bequeathed to Anne Miller (1802–90); bequeathed to Edward Mansel Miller (1829–1912); bequeathed to Helen Louisa Miller (1842–1915); bought by Thomas Girtin (1874–1960), 1912, £25; given to Tom Girtin (1913–1994), c.1938; bought by John Baskett on behalf of Paul Mellon (1907–99), 1970; presented to the Center, 1975
Exhibition History
Cambridge, 1920, no.2; Reading, 1969, no.20; New Haven, 1986a, no.11
Bibliography
Finberg, 1913, pp.131–32; Hughes and Mayne, 1950, p.30
Place depicted
Other entries in First Steps as a Professional Artist:
James Moore and British Antiquities
An Ancient House, Possibly in Sussex
Newport Museum and Art Gallery
An Interior View of the Ruined East End of Tynemouth Priory Church
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Jedburgh Abbey, from the East
Private Collection
Craigmillar Castle, near Edinburgh
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Exeter Cathedral, and St Mary Major
The Mellon Bank Collection, Pittsburgh
Stonehenge during a Thunderstorm
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The East End of Tynemouth Priory Church
Private Collection
Kidwelly Castle
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Ludlow Castle: The Gatehouse
Private Collection
Dumbarton Rock and the Castle, from the North West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Jedburgh Abbey, from the East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Interior of the Albion Mills, Southwark, after the Fire
Private Collection
Kinloss Abbey: The Abbot's House
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Conwy Castle, Looking West
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Duff House, from the South
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Unidentified Round Tower
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
Glasgow Cathedral, from the North East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Part of the Ruins of Alton Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Private Collection
The Albion Mills, Southwark, after the Fire
Newport Museum and Art Gallery
Bamburgh Castle, from the East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ruins of the East End of St Andrews Cathedral
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Touchstones Rochdale
Colchester Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Great Keep, Kenilworth Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Castle Rock, Edinburgh
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
London: The Demolition of the Old Porch of the Guildhall
London Metropolitan Archives
The Gatehouse, Denbigh Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Kirkstall Abbey, from the South East
Private Collection
Buildwas Abbey
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
The West Front of Brechin Cathedral, with the Round Tower
Private Collection
The Great Gate, St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Conwy Castle: The Bakehouse Tower
Private Collection
Lindisfarne Priory Church, Looking West from the Choir
Tate, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from the North West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Tithe Barn at Abbotsbury, with St Catherine's Chapel on the Hill
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Kirkstall Abbey, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Dunstaffnage Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Spynie Palace, near Elgin
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Dunnottar Castle in a Thunderstorm
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Part of the Ruins of Croxden Abbey, from the East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Great Keep, Kenilworth Castle, with Leicester's Gatehouse in the Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Battle Church, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
The Gatehouse, Denbigh Castle
Private Collection
The Ruins of Lewes Castle, from the West
Private Collection
Ewell Church, with a Funeral Procession Approaching
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Rustic Figures in a Landscape, with Pigs
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
St Peter's Church, Bexhill, from the East
Private Collection
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Cow Grazing near a Pond, with a Church Tower Beyond
Private Collection
Duff House, from the River
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Landscape with a Shepherd and Flock
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
Melrose Abbey, from the South West
Private Collection
A Cottage, Said to Be near Battle in Sussex
Private Collection
Ely Cathedral, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Private Collection
The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
Private Collection
Lindisfarne Priory Church, Looking West from the Choir
Private Collection, Scotland
Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Pevensey Castle: The North Tower with the Gatehouse in the Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Spire of Salisbury Cathedral, from Chorister's Green
Private Collection
The Landgate, Rye
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Landgate, Rye
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Strand Gate, Winchelsea
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The West Tower, All Saints' Church, Hastings
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Rochester Castle, from the South
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Byland Abbey
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
All Saints' Church, Hastings, from the North East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Ancient House, Possibly in Sussex
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Kenilworth Castle: The View from the South
Private Collection
Tolleshunt D’Arcy Church
Private Collection
St Peter's Church, Bexhill, from the South East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ruined Gatehouse, Saltwood Castle, Seen from the North
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ruined Gatehouse, Pevensey Castle, from the East
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ruined Gatehouse, Pevensey Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Gatehouse, Battle Abbey
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
Carlisle Cathedral, from the South West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Gatehouse, Battle Abbey
Private Collection
St Mary the Virgin, Eastbourne
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Unidentified Landscape with a Figure Seated on a Gate under a Tree
Private Collection
The West Front of Crowland Abbey
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Crowland Abbey
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Pevensey Castle: View of the North and East Towers
Private Collection
The Ruins of the Great Hall, Kenilworth Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
All Saints' Church, Hastings, from the North West
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Refectory, St Martin’s Priory, Dover
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Saltwood Castle: The Gatehouse from a Farmyard
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Spynie Palace: A Coastal View
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
St Clement's Church, with Hastings in the Distance
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The East End of the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Private Collection
The East End of the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Tower, St Clement's Church, Hastings; Studies of a Horse in Harness and Numerous Architectural Details
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Undercliff, near Hastings
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Ypres Tower, Rye
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Unidentified Village with a Half-Timbered House
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Hastings: The View across the Beach to Castle Hill
Hastings Museum and Art Gallery
Hastings Castle and Priory Bridge
Hastings Museum and Art Gallery
Tolleshunt D’Arcy Church
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Battle Abbey Gatehouse, from the South West
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
St Clement’s Church, Sandwich, from the North
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
St Peter's Church, Bexhill: The West Tower
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Glasgow Cathedral, from the South West
Bolton Museum and Art Gallery
The East End of Icklesham Church
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Refectory, St Martin’s Priory, Dover
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
The Gatehouse of Beckingham Hall, Tolleshunt Major
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Glamis Castle (Macbeth's Castle)
Private Collection, Norfolk
One of the Alard Monuments in the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
One of the Alard Monuments in the Church of St Thomas, Winchelsea
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate
Harvard Art Museums / Fogg Museum, Loan from George and Patti White
A Thatched Barn with Farm Animals
Private Collection
A Timber-Frame House with a Hill Beyond
Tate, London
A Farmyard with Pigs Drinking at a Pond
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
A Barn with a Figure, Cattle and Poultry
Courtauld Gallery, London
Malmesbury: The Market Cross
Athelstan Museum, Malmesbury
An Unidentified Country Church and Churchyard
Private Collection, Norfolk
Footnotes
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About this Work
Girtin’s earliest view of Kirkstall Abbey, shown from close to the west end, was probably made after an untraced sketch by the amateur artist and antiquarian James Moore (1762–99), and Girtin did not visit the site himself until 1799 or 1800. Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak thought that the work was made after an untraced watercolour by Girtin’s master, Edward Dayes (1763–1804), that was engraved and published in May 1793 (see figure 1) (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.136). This is certainly possible, but the evidence suggests that Dayes also worked from a drawing by Moore. His collection included twenty-seven watercolours signed on their mounts with Dayes’ and Moore’s names, and these invariably can be shown to be by Dayes after the amateur’s sketches. Dayes was therefore engaged by Moore in the same practice as Girtin, and at the same time as well. Girtin is documented as having worked for Moore between October 1792 and February 1793 for a fee of six shillings a day, producing small watercolours on paper measuring roughly 6 ½ × 8 ½ in (16.5 × 21.5 cm) as here, with each work carefully mounted by the patron (Moore, Payments, 1792–93).1 Girtin produced another view of Kirkstall Abbey for Moore at this date, showing the ruins from the south east (TG0147). Given that the other one of what appear to be a pair is clearly based on a sketch made by the amateur on his visit to the site on 2 October 1789 (see source image TG0147), it is not unreasonable to conclude that this was the case here. In all Girtin produced as many as seventy watercolours from Moore’s sketches, demonstrating in the main a sure skill in transforming a mundane study into a picturesque and effective composition.
The view of Kirkstall Abbey is one of seven or eight Yorkshire scenes that Girtin made from sketches Moore executed on his tour of the county in the autumn of 1789. They all show close-up views of the region’s ancient castles and monastic ruins and, typically of the set, this watercolour omits details of the building’s setting and develops a simple composition that did not stretch Moore’s limited capabilities as an artist. Like the other major view of Kirkstall from this period (TG0147) and the watercolour of Bolton Castle (TG0142), the abbey is shown under a placid sky and there is no attempt to develop any effects that might evoke the site’s historical associations. All of this suggests an early date for this group of works, when the young Girtin was content to render the sketches of his patron in an even light with only the generous provision of foliage to add a picturesque quality to a scene primarily of antiquarian interest. Moreover, even here there is a sense that Girtin held back; thus, whilst a contemporary writer noted how the ‘mouldering walls are overshadowed with trees and mantled with ivy’ adding to ‘the solemnity of the scene’, Girtin, following Moore’s lead, avoided any such associations (Walker, 1792–1802, vol.4, pl.188). All of this is in stark contrast to the watercolours that Girtin produced after his visit to the area in 1799 (TG1635 and TG1636), where the abbey ruins are just one element in a broad landscape dramatically enlivened by complex skies and bold lighting.
Girtin also produced a pencil drawing showing the same view of Kirkstall Abbey (TG0335), and this was presumably made from the same source as this watercolour. In turn, the pencil drawing was used as the basis for a small watercolour (TG0334) that Girtin painted for his later patron Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833) around 1795. Girtin and Loshak attributed the pencil drawing to Dayes and suggested that it was possibly the source for Girtin’s watercolour discussed here (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.136), but it is now generally accepted to be by Girtin himself.
1792 - 1793
Kirkstall Abbey, from the South East
TG0147
1792 - 1793
Kirkstall Abbey, from the South East
TG0147
1792 - 1793
Kirkstall Abbey, from the South East
TG0147
1792 - 1793
Bolton Castle
TG0142
1800
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Hill
TG1635
1800 - 1801
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Bridge, Morning
TG1636
1794 - 1795
Kirkstall Abbey, from the North West
TG0335
1795 - 1796
Kirkstall Abbey, from the North West
TG0334