For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser.
Works Thomas Girtin

Studies of Women and Men, Including an Advocate Pleading

1801 - 1802

Primary Image: TG1902: Thomas Girtin (1775–1802), Studies of Women and Men, Including an Advocate Pleading, 1801–02, graphite on laid paper, 22 × 19 cm, 8 ⅝ × 7 ½ in. Private Collection.

Photo courtesy of Sotheby's (All Rights Reserved)

Description
Creator(s)
Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
Title
  • Studies of Women and Men, Including an Advocate Pleading
Date
1801 - 1802
Medium and Support
Graphite on laid paper
Dimensions
22 × 19 cm, 8 ⅝ × 7 ½ in
Inscription

‘Ls. Francia’s respects to Mr Girtin / gratefully returns the picture / & wished Mr Gs remarks on / the drawing of H [illegible]’ lower right, by François Louis Thomas Francia

Object Type
Outline Drawing
Subject Terms
Figure Studies

Collection
Catalogue Number
TG1902
Girtin & Loshak Number
484e as 'Three studies of women, and an advocate pleading'
Description Source(s)
Auction Catalogue

Provenance

Thomas Calvert Girtin (1801–74); then by descent to Thomas Girtin (1874–1960); given to Tom Girtin (1913–94), c.1938; his sale, Sotheby’s, 14 November 1991, lot 99 as 'Figure of women and an advocate preaching'

About this Work

Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak thought that this sheet of figure studies was related to a group ‘sketched in Paris’ during Girtin’s stay there in the winter and early spring of 1801–2 that includes TG1899 and TG1900 (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.201). Certainly, it is logical to expect that the artist made a number of other studies of figures with which to populate his twenty Picturesque Views in Paris, a publication that, as its prospectus announced, was aimed at the ‘Fashionable World’ and for which the ‘Costume … has been particularly attended to’ (Girtin, Paris Prospectus, 1802).1 None of the studies seen here appear to have been used for the prints, however, and it is far from clear that they were made on the spot in France, not least because they are on a piece of paper that contains a note sent to Girtin by his colleague François Louis Thomas Francia (1772–1839). The artist, who is not known to have left London at this time, wrote: ‘Ls. Francia’s respects to Mr Girtin / gratefully returns the picture / & wishes Mr Gs remarks on / the drawing of H [illegible]’. This may have been sent in relation to a drawing by Girtin that Francia published as a soft-ground etching (see TG1779 figure 2), whilst the ‘drawing of H…’ may refer to the artist John Hoppner (1758–1810), whose sketches were included in the same publication, Studies of Landscapes … from the Originals (Francia, 1810). However, whilst Francia’s message might suggest that the sketches were made in London, on balance, I still favour the idea that they were produced with the Paris publication in mind, and, specifically, that they were copied from a secondary source, perhaps French in origin. The male figure, at the top right, which was interpreted by Girtin and Loshak as showing a legal ‘advocate pleading’ his case, in particular appears to have been copied from a print where the pose would have been understandable from its original context.

1801 - 1802

A Sheet of Figure Studies

TG1899

1801 - 1802

A Sheet of Figure Studies Relating to ‘Picturesque Views in Paris’

TG1900

by Greg Smith

Footnotes

  1. 1 The prospectus for Picturesque Views in Paris, presumably drafted by John Girtin, is transcribed in the Documents section of the Archive (1802 – Item 4).

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.