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Works (?) Thomas Girtin after Unknown Artist

The Head of Ullswater, from Goborrow Park

1791 - 1792

Primary Image: TG0206: (?) Thomas Girtin (1775–1802), after an Unknown Artist, The Head of Ullswater, from Goborrow Park, 1791–92, watercolour on laid paper, 21.6 × 33.7 cm, 8 ½ × 13 ¼ in. Private Collection.

Photo courtesy of Paul Mellon Centre Photographic Archive, PA-F03340-0099 (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Description
Creator(s)
(?) Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) after Unknown Artist
Title
  • The Head of Ullswater, from Goborrow Park
Date
1791 - 1792
Medium and Support
Watercolour on laid paper
Dimensions
21.6 × 33.7 cm, 8 ½ × 13 ¼ in
Object Type
Copy from an Unknown Source
Subject Terms
Lake Scenery; The Lake District

Collection
Catalogue Number
TG0206
Description Source(s)
Witt Library Photograph

Provenance

Lt. William R. Burn

About this Work

This view of Ullswater in the Lake District is known only from an old photograph and the attribution to Girtin cannot be confirmed. We know that Girtin did not travel to the Lake District, but he did produce a watercolour of Ullswater as it was recorded at an auction at Greenwood’s in London in 1791 (Exhibitions: Greenwood, 17 November 1791, lot 50), having been consigned to the sale by Girtin’s master, Edward Dayes (1763–1804). It is possible, therefore, that this work was produced by Girtin as an apprentice from a composition by Dayes and that it therefore fits into a group of other Lake District scenes that he produced around 1791–92, including The View from the Great Boathouse, Lake Windermere (TG0073) and Lake Windermere and Belle Isle (TG0078). Alternatively, the association of the watercolour with Girtin may just be a case of wishful thinking from a period when any brooding lake view attracted speculative attributions to the artist, encouraged by the fact that Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak mistakenly argued that the artist journeyed to the region on two occasions (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, pp.41–42). The lack of any obvious stylistic debts to Dayes suggests that the latter view is more likely to be correct.

1791 - 1792

The View from the Great Boathouse, Lake Windermere

TG0073

1791 - 1792

Lake Windermere and Belle Isle

TG0078

by Greg Smith

Place depicted

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