- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- The South Front of Chalfont Lodge, Seen from across the Lawn
- Date
- (?) 1800
- Medium and Support
- Graphite, watercolour and bodycolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 28 × 37.8 cm, 11 × 14 ⅞ in
- Inscription
‘Girtin’ lower left, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Commissioned from Thomas Girtin; Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Buckinghamshire View; Country House View; The Landscape Park
-
- Collection
- Versions
-
The South Front of Chalfont Lodge, Seen from across the Lawn
(TG1563)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1562
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 245i as 'Chalfont Lodge'; '1797–8'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001
Provenance
(?) Robert Hibbert (1750–1835); then by descent; the Leicester Galleries, London, 1919; bought by Thomas Girtin (1874–1960), £40; given to Tom Girtin (1913–94), c.1938; bought by John Baskett on behalf of Paul Mellon (1907–99), 1970; presented to the Center, 1986
Exhibition History
Agnew’s, 1931, no.123 as ’The Dower House, Chalfont’; London, 1962a, no.140; Reading, 1969, no.42
Bibliography
Morris, 2002b, p.63
Place depicted
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About this Work
This smaller version of the view of the south front of Chalfont Lodge in Buckinghamshire has all of the signs of being a copy of the watercolour that was painted by Girtin for the estate’s owner, Thomas Hibbert (1744–1819) (the larger work being TG1563). It contains fewer figures, it is smaller in scale at 28 × 37.8 cm (11 × 14 ⅞ in) compared to 40 × 53.7 cm (15 ¾ × 21 ⅛ in), and the handling is generally more summary, lacking the bodycolour highlights that help to give the larger work a sense of presence as a framed object. Girtin no doubt scaled back the labour involved in the production of a more workmanlike, altogether cheaper commodity, the palette of which does not match the works commissioned by Thomas Hibbert. Girtin made replicas of his works on a number of occasions such as the views of Wetherby Bridge (TG1643 and TG1644) and the ruins of the Roman baths at the Hôtel de Cluny in Paris (TG1896 and TG1897), but unlike those examples were it is fruitless to speculate about which version came first, this work was evidently made subsequent to the original commission from Hibbert, and it seems, with a waning interest on behalf of the artist. Any resulting doubts about the authenticity of the work, however, are allayed by the genuine signature, which was perhaps added with such concerns in mind.
Susan Morris has suggested that the work was commissioned by another member of the Hibbert family and that the prime candidate was Robert Hibbert (1750–1835), for whom the lodge was built and who ultimately inherited the estate from his childless brother Thomas (Morris, 2002b, p.63). Indeed, it is difficult to believe that anyone else would have commissioned a view that could only have held meaning for an owner of the property or a member of their family.
(?) 1800
The South Front of Chalfont Lodge, Seen from across the Lawn
TG1563
(?) 1800
Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills
TG1643
(?) 1800
Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills
TG1644
(?) 1802
Paris: The Ruins of the Roman Baths, Hôtel de Cluny
TG1896
(?) 1802
Paris: The Ruins of the Roman Baths, Hôtel de Cluny
TG1897