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Works Thomas Girtin and Joseph Mallord William Turner after (?) John Robert Cozens

Lake Como, Looking South, Possibly from the Foot of the Cliffs at Ca' Bianca

1794 - 1797

Primary Image: TG0505a : Thomas Girtin (1775–1802) and Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) after (?) John Robert Cozens (1752–1797), Lake Como, Looking South, Possibly from the Foot of the Cliffs at Ca' Bianca, 1794–97, graphite and watercolour on wove paper, 24.1 × 38.1 cm, 9 ½ × 15 in. Private Collection.

Photo courtesy of Christie's

Description
Creator(s)
Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) and Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) after (?) John Robert Cozens (1752-1797)
Title
  • Lake Como, Looking South, Possibly from the Foot of the Cliffs at Ca' Bianca
Date
1794 - 1797
Medium and Support
Graphite and watercolour on wove paper
Dimensions
24.1 × 38.1 cm, 9 ½ × 15 in
Inscription

'Lago di Como / J M Turner' on the back

Object Type
Collaborations; Monro School Copy
Subject Terms
Italian View: The North; Lake Scenery

Collection
Versions
Lake Como, Looking South, Possibly from the Foot of the Cliffs at Ca’ Bianca (TG0504)
Catalogue Number
TG0505a
Description Source(s)
Viewed in December 2018

Provenance

Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833); his posthumous sale, possibly Christie’s, 28 June 1833, lot 80 as 'A scrap-book, containing 66 sketches in Switzerland, in blue and Indian ink' by 'Turner'; bought by 'Hixon', £21 11s 6d; ... Charles Sackville Bale (1791–1880); his posthumous sale, Christie's, 14 May 1881, lot 169 or 170 as 'Lago di Como' by Joseph Mallord William Turner; both bought by Thos. Agnew & Sons, £15 15s and £14 14s; Sir William Agnew, 1st Baronet (1825–1910); presented to Rugby School Art Museum, 1881; their sale, Christie's, 4 December 2018, lot 79 as 'Lake Como' by Joseph Mallord William Turner, £17,500

About this Work

This view on Lake Como, one of two versions of the scene looking south (the other being TG0504), displays many of the signs that mark the unique collaboration between Girtin and his contemporary Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) at the home of Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833). Here they were employed across three winters, probably between 1794 and 1797, to make ‘finished drawings’ from the ‘Copies’ of the ‘outlines or unfinished drawings of Cozens’ and other artists, amateur and professional, either from Monro’s collection or lent for the purpose. As the two young artists later recalled, Girtin generally ‘drew in outlines and Turner washed in the effects’. ‘They went at 6 and staid till Ten’, which may account for the generally monochrome appearance of the works, and, as the diarist Joseph Farington (1747–1821) reported, Turner received ‘3s. 6d each night’, though ‘Girtin did not say what He had’ (Farington, Diary, 12 November 1798).1

Although no source has been found in the extant works of John Robert Cozens (1752–97), there is little doubt that this watercolour, one of six Monro School views of Lake Como, was copied from a composition the artist sketched on his journey to Italy in 1776. Another Monro School view of the lake, possibly showing Como itself (TG0503), was copied from a sketch that Cozens worked up into a finished watercolour, and there is no reason to suspect that the rest of the Como subjects had a different source. Cozens’ sketches from 1776 have not survived, but they were probably large in scale and little more than summary outlines, which would have needed careful interpretation to create the ‘finished drawings’ that Monro required for his collection. In all, there are as many as sixty Monro School views of the Alpine scenery of France, Switzerland and northern Italy that can, with varying degrees of certainty, be associated with Cozens’ first trip to the Continent in 1776. The subject of this watercolour was suggested in a sale catalogue for the monochrome version of the composition (TG0504), though it is by no means certain as there are many places where the waters of Lake Como are bounded by cliffs (Exhibitions: Sotheby’s, 5 July 2017, lot 180).

The work poses intriguing questions relating to its attribution, which its poor condition – the paper is badly discoloured due to intense exposure to light – further complicates. The specific issue relates to the work’s unclear relationship with the monochrome version, which, as an overlay of the two images shows, is close in the outline but displays significant differences. All but one of the other second versions of a Monro School copy of a Cozens subject can be shown to be inferior copies by unknown artists, the exception being Tell’s Chapel, Lake Lucerne (TG0481). In this case, however, the quality of the colour washes and the pencil outlines beneath is equally high in both watercolours, and there is no sense that one is an inferior copy of the other. This colour version is not an improvement on the monochrome view, as the rocks to the right are less monumental and terminate in an area of vegetation that mitigates against the stark effect of the simpler drawing. I suspect, therefore, that we are looking at two different ways of developing a composition, using a monochrome palette and, in contrast, a warmer range of colours.

The exact division of labour in the Monro School watercolours is rarely straightforward, either. In this case, the execution of the work was described in an auction catalogue in 2018 as being by Turner alone, but, whilst the pencil work that is visible is not obviously by Girtin, equally it is not clearly by Turner either. My default position on the attribution of Monro School copies of Cozens’ works is to follow what the two artists stated to Farington in 1798 unless there is clear evidence that points to the sole authorship of either artist. As in the case of the monochrome version of the composition, therefore, I am minded to attribute the works to both artists, not least as a way of correcting an imbalance in the art market that has consistently put a higher premium on Turner’s sole authorship despite clear visual and documentary evidence of the extent of his collaborations with Girtin.

1794 - 1797

Lake Como, Looking South, Possibly from the Foot of the Cliffs at Ca’ Bianca

TG0504

1794 - 1797

Lake Como

TG0503

1794 - 1797

Lake Como, Looking South, Possibly from the Foot of the Cliffs at Ca’ Bianca

TG0504

1794 - 1797

Tell’s Chapel, Lake Lucerne, with the Fronalpstock Beyond

TG0481

by Greg Smith

Place depicted

Footnotes

  1. 1 The full diary entry, giving crucial details of the artists’ work at Monro’s house, is transcribed in the Documents section of the Archive (1798 – Item 2).

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