- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Unidentified Landscape with a Distant Rain Shower
- Date
- 1800 - 1801
- Medium and Support
- Watercolour and bodycolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 19.5 × 35.2 cm, 7 ⅝ × 13 ⅞ in
- Inscription
‘Girtin’ lower centre, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- River Scenery; Unidentified Landscape; Weather Effect
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1763
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 492 as 'Landscape with Stormy Sky'; '1802'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001 and 2002
Provenance
Charles Sackville Bale (1791–1880); his posthumous sale, Christie’s, 13 May 1881, lot 91, as 'A River Scene'; bought by 'Thompson', £24 3s; James Pyke Thompson (1846–97); Turner House Collection, Penarth; transferred to the Museum, 1921
Exhibition History
Cardiff, 1884, no.459; Arts Council, 1947a, no.23; Manchester, 1975, no.105; Hamburg, 1976, no.268; London, 2002, no.168; Bath, 2003, no.29; Lincoln, 2007, no.39
Bibliography
Baxandall, 1939, pp.14–15, p.50; Mayne, 1949, p.101; Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.84; Hardie, 1966–68, vol.2, p.19; Owen, 1991, pp.27–28; Thornes, 1999, p.179; Herrmann, 2000, pp.43–44
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
Footnotes
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About this Work
Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak thought that this unidentified view might have been painted in the open in the vicinity of Hampstead or Primrose Hill, north London, and that it dates from the artist’s last months, when Girtin was too ill to travel far from his last base in Islington (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.84). The distant landscape is too flat for either of those locations, however, and neither view includes a prominent river; moreover, there is no evidence to suggest such a late date either. Indeed, the similarity of the sky to that shown in Lydford Castle, from the River Lyd (TG1734), from 1800, suggests a more likely option, as does the presence of the same reclining figure seen in a similarly dated drawing of the ruins of Bolton Priory (TG1678). I have more sympathy for Girtin and Loshak’s view that this watercolour was painted in the open air, however, because, as the author of a book on the celebrated skies painted by John Constable (1776–1837) has rightly noted, Girtin’s scene is ‘as vibrant and true as any’ of Constable’s ‘paintings of rain or showers’ (Thornes, 1999, p.179). Indeed, it may even be that this is the best example of Girtin’s ability to observe and record a complex and effervescent natural effect, leaving far behind the only other cloud or sky studies that he completed, dating from much earlier in his career (TG0186 and TG0199). All of this suggested to the earlier cataloguers of Girtin’s work that what they saw as ‘obviously a late work’ was ‘evidence of Girtin’s presumably fatal habit of “sitting out for hours in the rain to observe the effects of storms and clouds upon the atmosphere”’ (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.84, quoting Roget, 1891, p.95). Although the authors do not specify the fact, we are presumably supposed to identify the reclining figure as Girtin himself, whose death, according to the dramatist Thomas Holcroft (1745–1809), was ‘occasioned by … the inconsiderate manner’ in which he sat ‘on the ground to make his designs’, thus making him a true martyr to naturalistic painting (Holcroft, 1804, vol.2, p.488).1
What this says about our expectations of a young artist touched by genius who died young, and how much can actually be read from the work itself, is a different matter, however, for although the watercolour does indeed seem the epitome of naturalistic observation, its status as an on-the-spot study is far from certain. Comparing the work with the earlier sky studies, which were painted rapidly in broad areas of monochrome, it is apparent that both the clouds and the landscape here are actually built up from multiple layers of washes, each of which would have had to dry before the artist proceeded with his sketch. All of this means the distant shower, together with the distinctive cloud formation, would have passed long before the sketch was even partially complete. All sketches of transient effects made on the spot involve an element of memory, of course, but in this case the evenness of the finish across the carefully organised landscape suggest that the fine sky effect is best understood as a testament to Girtin’s ability to translate lessons learnt in the field to a studio work. It follows, therefore, that the work was not made as an empirical study of a meteorological effect undertaken as part of a process of self-education, as in the case of Constable, being instead a studio work produced to satisfy the demand from sympathetic patrons for examples of the artist’s less formal works.
On a technical point, the watercolour has remained in a remarkably good, unfaded condition, though the low-grade laid paper employed by the artist is speckled with numerous small discolourations caused by impurities in the support. Unusually for a later work, Girtin has used touches of opaque white bodycolour to depict the river, rather than leaving the colour of the paper to show up as a highlight. Given that this is the only case of Girtin using bodycolour for an effect that is actually much easier to accomplish by leaving the paper untouched, it appears that the decision to include a river in the view was a last-minute change of mind, introduced to add variety into the composition, and this is perhaps the best evidence that we have that the work was not coloured on the spot.
(?) 1800
Lydford Castle, from the River Lyd
TG1734
1800
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church, from across the River Wharfe
TG1678
1794
A Cloud Study
TG0186
(?) 1794
A Sky Study
TG0199