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

Lake Nemi

1794 - 1797

Primary Image: TG0633: Thomas Girtin (1775–1802) and Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), after John Robert Cozens (1752–97), Lake Nemi, 1794–97, graphite and watercolour on wove paper, on an early mount of laid paper, 15.2 × 18.9 cm, 6 × 7 ½ in. Private Collection.

Photo courtesy of Sotheby's

Description
Creator(s)
Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) and Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) after John Robert Cozens (1752-1797)
Title
  • Lake Nemi
Date
1794 - 1797
Medium and Support
Graphite and watercolour on wove paper, on an early mount of laid paper
Dimensions
15.2 x 18.9 cm, 6 x 7 ½ in
Inscription

'Nemi' on the back of the mount in pencil

Object Type
Collaborations; Monro School Copy; Work from a Known Source: Contemporary British
Subject Terms
Italian View: Roman Campagna; Lake Scenery

Collection
Catalogue Number
TG0633
Description Source(s)
Viewed in July 2024

Provenance

Dr Thomas Monro (1759-1833); possibly Christie's, 2 July 1833, part of lot 137, as by Joseph Mallord William Turner; bought by 'Shirley', £14.14s; W. Angell of Oxford Garden, London; Leggatt Brothers, London as by Joseph Mallord William Turner; Gilbert Woollard Hattersley (1854-1916); then by descent; Sotheby's, 3 July 2024, lot 52 as by Joseph Mallord William Turner and Thomas Girtin, £24,000

About this Work

This view of Lake Nemi, looking west towards Genzano on the opposite bank with the village of Nemi to the right, 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

Lake Nemi, Looking towards Genzano

The view across Lake Nemi in the countryside south-east of Rome was a popular one with Cozens’ patrons and over the course of the artist’s career he secured as many as a dozen or so purchasers for his watercolours of the scene (see figure 1). The earliest is dated 1779, meaning that it was executed in Rome before Cozens’ return to England from his first Italian tour (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, DYCE 706). More than two hundred Monro School subjects can be linked with various degrees of confidence to subjects sketched on this first tour (1776–80), but this work differs from the majority of these in a couple of crucial respects. In the first instance, a work measuring 15.2 × 18.9 cm (6 × 7 ⁷⁄₁₆ in) is significantly smaller than the typical Monro School subject associated with the first tour which generally replicates the dimensions of large outlines such as The Gorge with the Cascades, Tivoli (see TG0578 figure 1), 45.7 × 66 cm (18 × 26 in). Again, in contrast to this work, the other views of the Roman Campagna painted by Girtin and Turner for Monro such as Lake Albano, from Palazzolo (TG0617) and Lake Nemi, with Genzano and the Palazzo Sforza Cesarini (TG0627) employ the same relatively muted blue/grey palette. The typical Monro School palette is not very different from that used by Cozens in his versions of the Nemi subject (see figure 1) and is in stark contrast to the predominantly green tones used here. Bearing in mind that Monro seems to have avoided acquiring copies of Cozens’ better-known compositions, I cannot help wonder if the relatively anomalous character of this drawing might not have a ready explanation. Monro’s posthumous sale reveals that he owned only a handful of works by Cozens, but one that we do know was in his collection was ‘Lake of Nemi, Cozens’ listed in an early sale catalogue as 'Framed and Glazed’ (Christie’s, 24 March 1804, lot 90). Could it be that already owning a version of this subject Girtin and Turner were encouraged to experiment with a variation on its palette and one that was more in keeping with contemporary developments in the watercolour field.2

The bulk of the works sold at Monro’s posthumous sale in 1833 were attributed to Turner alone, and despite the pioneering article published by Andrew Wilton in 1984 (Wilton, 1984a, pp.8–23) that established the joint authorship of many of the Monro School copies, more heavily worked watercolours such as this have generally been solely associated with Girtin’s collaborator. Given the relatively richly worked colour this is not altogether surprising in this case, but as with a small group of similarly small-scale Italian subjects with a more naturalistic palette such as The Convent of San Silvestro, near Monte Compatri (TG0703) and A Hilltop Village, Said to Be Tivoli (TG0579) enough of Girtin’s characteristic inventive touches are still apparent to suggest that he too was involved in its production.

1794 - 1797

Tivoli: The ‘Temple of the Sibyl’ and the Cascades Seen from Below

TG0578

1794 - 1797

Lake Albano, from Palazzolo

TG0617

1794 - 1797

Lake Nemi, with Genzano and the Cesarini-Sforza Palace

TG0627

1794 - 1797

The Convent of San Silvestro, near Monte Compatri

TG0703

1794 - 1797

A Hilltop Village, Said to Be Tivoli

TG0579

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).
  2. 2 That said, if the Nemi subject was to be identified with lot 32 in Monro’s posthumous sale in 1833 when, as one of four lots, it sold for just £3 3s, then it would probably have been a sketch rather than a finished studio watercolour (Christie’s, 2 July 1833).

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