- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- The River Tweed at Kelso
- Date
- 1799 - 1800
- Medium and Support
- Watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 23.5 × 51.8 cm, 9 ¼ × 20 ⅜ in
- Inscription
‘Girtin’ lower left, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Panoramic Format; River Scenery; The Scottish Borders; Wind and Water Mills
-
- Collection
- Versions
-
The River Tweed at Kelso
(TG1714)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1713
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 491 as 'The River Tweed near Kelso'; '1802'
- Description Source(s)
- Gallery Website
Provenance
Edward Cohen (1817–86) (lent to London, 1875); then by bequest to his niece, Annie Sophia Poulter (c.1846–1924); then by descent to Edward Alexander Poulter (1883–1973); Christie's, 6 May 1932, lot 74; bought by 'Thomson' for the Palser Gallery, London, £65 2s; ... Thos. Agnew & Sons; bought from them by the Museum, 1953
Exhibition History
London, 1875, no.57 as ’Kelso’; Agnew’s, 1931, no.96
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
The view in this panoramic watercolour, showing the river Tweed at Kelso in the Scottish Borders, is taken from beyond the confluence with the river Teviot, looking south and downstream to the old bridge. This is the same view seen in a more compressed version of the composition (TG1714), and the bridge itself seems to have been the viewpoint from which another image of the river, looking upstream, was taken (TG1715), though the latter and TG1713 do not form a pair, being different sizes. The trees shown to the left in this watercolour can thus be seen in the centre of the view looking in the other direction, and both compositions include the riverside mills that were an important part of the town’s economy at this date. Girtin may have visited Kelso in 1800, as he is documented as having stayed nearby in that year, but it is likely that all four of the views of the river Tweed (the fourth being TG1716) were made from untraced sketches executed during an earlier trip in 1796 (Jenkins, Notes, 1852). This is because the old six-arched bridge, which is seen intact in an aquatint of 1793 (see figure 1), was severely damaged in a storm in October 1797 that undermined the central arches, leading them to collapse. It is just possible that Girtin chose his viewpoint on a slightly elevated position on the north bank of the river so as to obscure the damage to the centre of the bridge, meaning that the work was sketched in 1800 after all. However, the more likely explanation for what appears to be its complete state is that, although all four of the Tweed views may date from around that time, the two bridge views at least were based on earlier drawings. Certainly, the structure shown here is not the new five-arched bridge designed by John Rennie the Elder (1761–1821), which did not begin construction until 1800 and was finally opened in 1803.
The watercolour has suffered a little from fading over the years, with the greens in the distance having lost much of their tone, but this is not as significant as with many of Girtin’s later watercolours. This, combined with the fact that we now know that the work must have been based on an earlier sketch, makes me wonder whether Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak’s dating of the Tweed views to 1802 is not a little way off the mark, and, specifically, whether the fact that Girtin is recorded as having stayed at nearby Dryburgh in 1800 did not distort their thinking on the issue. Certainly, there is no evidence that the stay with the 11th Earl of Buchan (1742–1829) led to any commissions, and none of the views of Kelso or elsewhere in the Borders can be associated with him. Indeed, comparing this work with The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins (TG1229), from around 1798, it strikes me that the greater ‘quality of abstraction’ that Girtin and Loshak detected in the Tweed views might not be, at least partly, due to their condition, and that this work shares more, in terms of scale and size as well as some compositional elements, with the earlier work (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.87). Accordingly, I have settled on a different and more inclusive date than the 1802 proposed by the earlier authors.
1799 - 1800
The River Tweed at Kelso
TG1714
1800 - 1801
The River Tweed at Kelso, Looking Upstream
TG1715
1799 - 1800
The River Tweed at Kelso
TG1713
1800 - 1801
Kelso, from the River Tweed
TG1716
1797 - 1798
The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins
TG1229