- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- (?) Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River
- Date
- 1798 - 1799
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 21.1 × 29.5 cm, 8 ¼ × 11 ⅝ in
- Inscription
‘Girtin’ lower left, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Monastic Ruins; North Wales; River Scenery
-
- Collection
- Versions
-
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River; Studies of Seated Figures
(TG1339)
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River (TG1340)
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River (TG1341)
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River (TG1342)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1343
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 292i as 'Valle Crucis Abbey'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001 and 2021
Provenance
Charles James Pooley (1836–1900); his sale, Christie’s, 6 March 1880, lot 28; bought by Grundy & Smith, 19 gns; Alfred Aspland (1815-80); his posthumous sale, Capes, Dunn, and Pilcher, Manchester, 1 May 1883, lot 30, unsold; Sotheby's, 27 January 1885, no.167; bought by 'Palser', £6 15s; J. Palser & Sons (stock no.2510); bought by 'Wesley', 28 March 1885; George Wyndham Girtin (1836–1912), by 1890; then by descent to Thomas Girtin (1874–1960); given to Tom Girtin (1913–94), c.1938; bought by John Baskett on behalf of Paul Mellon (1907–99), 1970; presented to the Center, 1975
Exhibition History
Cambridge, 1920, no.35; Agnew’s, 1931, no.109; London, 1962a, no.139; New Haven, 1986a, no.127
Bibliography
YCBA Online as by an 'Imitator of' Thomas Girtin (Accessed 16/09/2022)
Place depicted
Other entries in The 1798 Welsh Tour:
Sketches and Subsequent Watercolours
Rhuddlan Castle, from the River Clwyd
Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University
Rhuddlan Castle, from the River Clwyd
Private Collection, Bedfordshire
Rhuddlan Castle, from the River Clwyd
Tate, London
The Great Hall, Conwy Castle
Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield
The Eagle Tower, Caernarfon Castle
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
The Eagle Tower, Caernarfon Castle
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The Eagle Tower, Caernarfon Castle
Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery
The Eagle Tower, Caernarfon Castle
Private Collection
Caernarfon: A Street Scene with Plas Mawr
Tate, London
Caernarfon Castle, from the River Seiont
British Museum, London
Caernarfon Castle, from the River Seiont
Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead
The Cain Falls (Pistyll Cain), near Dolgellau
British Museum, London
The Cain Falls (Pistyll Cain), near Dolgellau
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
A Mountain View, near Beddgelert
British Museum, London
A Bridge over the Glaslyn, near Beddgelert
British Museum, London
Pont Seiont, Looking Towards Mynydd Mawr (Big Mountain)
British Museum, London
Pont Seiont, Looking Towards Mynydd Mawr (Big Mountain)
Private Collection
Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake), Looking towards Cadair Idris
Private Collection
A View of Hills and a River, Probably in North Wales
British Museum, London
Denbigh Castle and the Vale of Clwyd
British Museum, London
An Unidentified Landscape, Possibly the Vale of Clwyd
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River; Studies of Seated Figures
Private Collection
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River
Private Collection
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River
Private Collection
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River
National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Valle Crucis Abbey: From the Cloister Looking Towards the Dormitory
Private Collection
Valle Crucis Abbey: The Chapter House, from the South West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A River Scene, Probably the Dee near Corwen
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
The Cloisters of Chester Cathedral
Private Collection
The Red Castle, from Hawk Lake, with a Distant View of Shrewsbury
Private Collection
The Old Severn Bridge at Bridgnorth
British Museum, London
Hereford Cathedral, from across the River Wye
Private Collection
The Great Hall, Kenilworth Castle
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
The Great Hall, Kenilworth Castle
Private Collection
The Great Hall, Kenilworth Castle
Private Collection
An Unidentified Valley, Probably in North Wales
Private Collection, Bedfordshire
Cadair Idris, from the Estuary near Barmouth
Private Collection
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About this Work
Susan Morris, in her catalogue of the collection of Girtin’s work at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, argued that this view of Valle Crucis Abbey is a ‘nineteenth-century copy after Girtin’, reproducing one of the three other versions of the composition (TG1340, TG1341 and TG1342) (Morris, 1986, p.127). The work came to the Center for British Art, along with the majority of its works by Girtin, from the family collection, which was built up over generations, and perhaps not surprisingly it was catalogued by Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak, in contrast, as an authentic work. Moreover, given that they placed it first in their list of versions of the composition, they presumably thought that it was actually the primary model from which the other watercolours were made as replicas (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.174). I am not sure I agree with either of these contrasting views, however. I can certainly see where Morris is coming from in terms of the poor quality of the work, but the signature looks convincing and, on balance, I suspect the watercolour’s faded condition, combined with the requirement to make multiple versions of a composition, resulted in a version that is less than convincing, if only marginally so. Looking at the four seemingly identical versions of the composition, all executed on the same scale and with similar palettes (which, in each case, has led to deterioration in their condition), is a chastening experience for those of us who associate Girtin with a superior creativity and originality. But on the other hand, and looking at the issue in a more positive light, it is possible to be consoled by the fact that Girtin was able to create a successful commodity that tapped into the market for picturesque views of Welsh scenery that arose from the region’s increasing popularity with tourists, and, at the same time, had a level-headed attitude to meeting the resulting demand, even if, as here, it compromised his standards.
1798 - 1799
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River
TG1340
1798 - 1799
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River
TG1341
1798 - 1799
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River
TG1342