- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- The Demolition of a Building, Said to Be Part of the Ruins of Old Drury Lane Theatre
- Date
- 1794 - 1795
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 27.3 × 17.8 cm, 10 ¾ × 7 in
- Inscription
‘Part of the Ruins of Old Drury Lane Playhouse’ on an old mount
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- London and Environs; Urban Ruins
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG0088
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001 and 2002
Provenance
Christie's, 21 April 1922, lot 10 as by Thomas Girtin; bought by 'Mason', £4 14s 6d; ... P & D Colnaghi & Co., 1953; H. E. Cockcroft; his posthumous sale, Sotheby’s, 10 March 1965, lot 71, as 'Old Drury Lane Theatre, a workman by the ruins' by Joseph Mallord William Turner; bought by P & D Colnaghi & Co., £280; ... Sotheby’s, 16 July 1987, lot 85 as by Thomas Girtin; bought by Thos. Agnew & Sons, £6,600
Exhibition History
Agnew’s, 1988, no.148 as by Thomas Girtin; Agnew’s, 1993, no.28; London, 2002, no.68
Place depicted
Other entries in Master and Pupil:
Edward Dayes and the Industrious Apprentice

An Icelandic Woman in Her Riding Dress
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik

An Icelandic Woman with Her Young Daughter
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik

The Great Geysir, Iceland, as It Appeared during Its Eruption to Sir Joseph Banks in September 1772
Private Collection

Mount Hekla, with Sir Joseph Banks and His Party Descending from the Volcano
Private Collection

Lava as It Has Run Over the Ridge of a Hill, Iceland
Private Collection

The House of Thorstein Jonsson at Hvaleyri, Iceland
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik

A Section of the 'Boiling Fountains' (Geysers) and the Surrounding Country, Iceland
Private Collection

The Basalt Pillars near Laugarnes, Iceland
Private Collection

An Icelandic Woman in Her Bridal Dress
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik

Durham Cathedral, from the River Wear
The Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg

Eton College, from the River
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

London: Interior of St Stephen Walbrook, Looking East
Private Collection

Rochester, from the River Medway
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

St Mary’s Church, Battersea
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery

Unidentified Coastal Village, Said to Be Clovelly
Private Collection

The Monument to Anthony and Anne Forster, Cumnor Church
Private Collection

The Interior of Buildwas Abbey Church
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Somerset House: The Strand Front and the Royal Academy
Untraced Works

An Exterior View of Henry VII’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino

Westminster Bridge, from the North East
Untraced Works

The Oxford Street Facade of the Pantheon
Untraced Works

The Interior of Westminster Abbey: The Nave Looking East
Untraced Works

The Queen’s Palace, or Buckingham House
Royal Collection Trust (Windsor)

The King’s Mews, Charing Cross
London Metropolitan Archives

The East Front of St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The West Front of St Martin-in-the-Fields
Untraced Works

The Banqueting House, Whitehall
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The Interior of St Paul’s Cathedral: The Nave Looking East
Untraced Works

St Paul’s Cathedral, from the South West
Untraced Works

The West Front of St Paul’s Cathedral
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The West Front of Westminster Abbey
Untraced Works

Interior of St Stephen Walbrook, Looking East
Untraced Works

A French Lady of Quality in 1581
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Edward VI in 1550
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

A Noble Virgin of Bologna in 1581
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

A Persian Lady in 1568
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

An English Nobleman in 1559
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Henry VIII in 1520
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Marlow, from across the River Thames
Private Collection

Tynemouth Priory, from the Coast
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

The River Wensum at Norwich
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Rochester Castle, from the River Medway
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Tintern Abbey, from the River Wye
Courtauld Gallery, London

All Saints' Church, Fulham, from the Seven Bells, Putney
Private Collection

London from Highgate Hill
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

'First Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Officer and Subaltern
British Museum, London

'First Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Sergeant and Private
British Museum, London

First Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660: Drummer and Private
Brown University Library, Providence, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection

'Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, 1650': Officer and Sergeant
British Museum, London

'Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, 1650': Sergeant and Private
British Museum, London

Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, 1650: Drummer and Corporal
Brown University Library, Providence, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection

'Third Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Officer and Sergeant
British Museum, London

'Third Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Grenadier and Private
British Museum, London

Third Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660: Drummer and Private
Brown University Library, Providence, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection

Christ Church, Southwark
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Llanthony Priory
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Rochester, from the North
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

The View from the Great Boathouse, Lake Windermere
Private Collection

Westminster Abbey and Bridge, from Lambeth
Private Collection

The Dover Mail, Dover Castle in the Distance
Private Collection

Rochester Cathedral and Castle, from the North East
Eton College, Windsor

Worcester, from the River Severn
Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields

Lake Windermere and Belle Isle
Wordsworth Grasmere (Dove Cottage and Wordsworth Museum)

London Bridge, from the South Bank
Private Collection

The Demolition of a Building, Said to Be Part of the Ruins of Old Drury Lane Theatre
Private Collection

Dover Castle: The Constable's Tower
Untraced Works

A Cottage on the Solent
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery

Hereford Cathedral, from the River Wye
Hereford Museum and Art Gallery

Chepstow Castle, on the River Wye
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Warehouse and Shipping at Wapping
Leicester Museum & Art Gallery

A Distant View of Hereford Cathedral
Private Collection

The Gatehouse and Barbican, Warwick Castle
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Chepstow Castle, from the River Wye
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The Interior of a Ruined Abbey Church
Private Collection

The Head of Ullswater, from Goborrow Park
Private Collection

Part of the Ruins of Roche Abbey
Private Collection

The Transept of St Saviour’s, Southwark
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Palace, Westminster Bridge Beyond
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Durham Cathedral, from the River Wear
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

All Saints' Church, Marlow
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester

Caesar’s Tower, Warwick Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

A Bronze Age Palstave and a Roman Bow Brooch
Society of Antiquaries of London

All Saints' Church, Marlow
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Unidentified Monastic Ruins next to a River
Private Collection

Westminster, from the Ruins of the Savoy
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh

Manchester: Chetham’s College from Hunt’s Bank, with the Bridge over the River Irwell
Untraced Works

Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Palace, Westminster Bridge Beyond
Private Collection

The Oriel Window of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

An Exterior View of Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Private Collection

A Distant View of Marlow, from the River Thames
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino

A Distant View of Marlow, from the River Thames
Private Collection

An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Palace, Westminster Bridge Beyond
Private Collection

Buildings in the Process of Demolition, Said to Be the Ruins of the Savoy Palace
Tate, London

An Exterior View of Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Tate, London

An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Tate, London

St Mary’s Church, Monken Hadley
Tate, London

An Exterior View of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The Interior of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Private Collection

The Interior of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Private Collection

The Interior of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

St Mary's Church, Putney High Street
Private Collection
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About this Work
An early title for the work illustrated above comes from an inscription on the back of an old mount, which reads ‘Part of the Ruins of Old Drury Lane Playhouse’, but the identification of the building under demolition as the old theatre is problematic on a number of grounds, not least because no element of the ruins tallies either with the structure or its setting. Of even greater concern is the date of the watercolour, which, from stylistic evidence, can be assigned to 1794–95, a couple of years at least after the old theatre was demolished to make way for the new building designed by Henry Holland (1745–1806) and which opened in March 1794. Of course, it is possible that the work was produced from a sketch made in 1791 and it is to be remembered that Girtin’s earliest patron, the antiquarian James Moore (1762–99), may even have commissioned views of the ruined industrial complex of the Albion Mills from his sketches (TG0105 and TG0114). There was certainly a market for modern ruins even amongst those whose primary interest was in the nation’s ancient monuments. It is also true that Girtin himself showed an interest in the theatre throughout his life, producing designs for stage sets, and, during his time as an apprentice to Edward Dayes (1763–1804), his master actually painted a fine watercolour of the new Theatre Royal at Drury Lane under construction (see figure 1). However, the building project depicted by Dayes is quite out of keeping with the domestic scale of the ruins shown here, a location indeed that even has trees nearby. Perhaps the problem lies in the word ‘ruin’, because unlike the third Drury Lane Theatre, which was destroyed by fire in 1812 and left behind a spectacular skeleton of masonry, the second building was carefully demolished. On balance, therefore, it seems that the inscription is wrong, presumably applied at a later date to an unidentified and unidentifiable ruin depicted by Girtin around 1794. Girtin’s watercolour should therefore more correctly be interpreted as reflecting his interest in the changes that were constantly modifying his native city, such as he had depicted in his views of the ruins of the Savoy (TG0367). It is as a celebration of the daily renewal of the urban fabric, rather than as a record of a spectacular project, that this unassuming watercolour works best.
The work has also been attributed to Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) at various points in its history. However, although it is a good example of the close stylistic links that existed between the two artists around 1794 and the initial period of their collaborative work at the home of Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833), the unpromising and unpicturesque subject marks it out as by Girtin. Turner’s contemporary consistently showed a greater interest in the city and embraced the ordinariness of such urban scenes as an opportunity to show off his artistic skills in a view with no intrinsic architectural merits.
1792 - 1793
Interior of the Albion Mills, Southwark, after the Fire
TG0105
1792 - 1793
The Albion Mills, Southwark, after the Fire
TG0114
1794 - 1797
Buildings in the Process of Demolition, Said to Be the Ruins of the Savoy Palace
TG0367