- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- The Banks of the River Wharfe, with Bolton Abbey in the Distance
- Date
- 1800 - 1801
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 29.9 × 44.4 cm, 11 ¾ × 17 ½ in
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Monastic Ruins; River Scenery; Yorkshire View
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1682
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2010
Provenance
H. V. Day, Dorchester, 1955; Appleby Brothers Ltd, London, 1964; possibly Christie’s, 20 April 1971, lot 122; Appleby Brothers Ltd, London; John Apppleby (d.2009); his posthumous sale, Christie’s, South Kensington, 4 November 2010, lot 122, unsold
Bibliography
Country Life, vol.135, no.3495 (27 February 1964), supplement, p.19
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
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
An Unidentified Scene, Formerly Known as ‘Kirkstall Village’
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, Possibly Hampstead Heath
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 with Cattle, Poultry and Labourers Unloading Hay, Possibly Pinkney's 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 badly faded watercolour shows a view along the river Wharfe, looking south west to a glimpse of the ruins of Bolton Priory seen through the trees. It therefore represents the view in the opposite direction to that depicted in Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe (TG1680). It is one of seven watercolours that show the riverside ruins of the Augustinian priory in Yorkshire (TG1676–TG1682), which, together with five other views of the dramatic scenery adjacent to the site (TG1674, TG1675, TG1684, TG1685 and TG1686) and Girtin’s sole oil painting, the sadly lost Bolton Bridge (TG1687), constitute the artist’s most thorough exploration of a landscape subject at this date. The twelve watercolours, featuring eight different Bolton compositions, were based on drawings the artist made in the summer of 1800, probably on an excursion from Harewood House, where he stayed with his patron Edward Lascelles (1764–1814), though the sketch for this work has not been traced. One at least of the Bolton subjects was commissioned by Lascelles (TG1554), but the majority of the views were actually made for disposal on the open market by Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835), who acted on behalf of the artist in his final years in a role somewhere between agent and dealer. This work conforms to the smaller of the two standard sizes of watercolours that Girtin produced for Reynolds in 1800 and 1801. Though the evidence in this case is not compelling, it is unlikely that this work was produced on commission and it thus reflects the artist’s estimate of what subjects would sell and how best to treat them to create a successful commodity. In this case, the choice of a slightly elevated view, similar to that seen in Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe (TG1684), the location of which can be seen to the left, results in a composition that, other than the ruins themselves, is devoid of any trace of a human presence. The site’s celebrated air of ‘seclusion’ and ‘retirement’, which was said to form an ideal ‘retreat … from the strife and turbulency of the busy world’, is thus carefully preserved (Anonymous, 1813, pp.15–16).
Tom Girtin (1913–94) thought that the watercolour was made by another artist copying a lost Girtin original (Girtin Archive, 40A), but its appearance on the art market in 2010 has shown that, whilst the work is not of the highest quality, its failings are primarily down to its very faded condition, so that it is not even possible to work out what time of the day it represents. The drawing may not have been highly coloured, but the almost monochrome appearance of what we see today is the result of the loss of the full range of greys in the clouds, much of the blues in the sky and its reflection in the water, and all of the greens of the vegetation. The contemporary view The Abbey Mill, near Knaresborough (TG1672) can give us some idea of the work’s original appearance, but this is just a rough guide as the works’ contrasting appearances stem from the fact that the artist almost certainly used quite different blue and yellow pigments for the sky, the clouds and the vegetation. Girtin’s choice of fugitive indigo and gamboge applied in thin washes is likely to be the culprit for the fading, rather than any excessive exposure of the work to light.
1801
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
TG1680
1800 - 1801
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church, from across the River Wharfe
TG1676
1800 - 1801
The Banks of the River Wharfe, with Bolton Abbey in the Distance
TG1682
1800 - 1801
A View on the River Wharfe
TG1674
(?) 1800
A Mountain Stream in Spate, Possibly the River Wharfe
TG1675
1800 - 1801
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey
TG1684
1800 - 1801
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey
TG1685
1800 - 1801
An Upland Landscape, Identified as Storiths Heights, near Bolton Abbey
TG1686
(?) 1801
Bolton Bridge
TG1687
1800 - 1801
On the River Wharfe at Bolton Abbey
TG1554
1800 - 1801
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey
TG1684
1800 - 1801
The Abbey Mill, near Knaresborough
TG1672