- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
- Date
- 1800 - 1801
- Medium and Support
- Graphite, watercolour and bodycolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 41.9 × 55.2 cm, 16 ½ × 21 ¾ in
- Inscription
‘Girtin’ lower right, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour; Visible Fold in the Paper
- Subject Terms
- Castle Ruins; Durham and Northumberland; River Scenery
Provenance
Edward Cohen (1816–87); then by bequest to his niece, Annie Sophia Poulter (c.1846–1924); then by descent to Edward Alexander Poulter (1883–1973); Thos. Agnew & Sons (stock no.1171); Walter James Redfern Turner (d.1945); his posthumous sale, Sotheby's, 2 June 1948, lot 128; bought by Thos. Agnew & Sons, £450 (stock no.6011); bought by Sabina Girtin, née Cooper (1878–1959), 1950, £350; Tom Girtin (1913–94); bought by John Baskett on behalf of Paul Mellon (1907–99), 1970; presented to the Center, 1975
Exhibition History
Agnew’s, 1931, no.112; Agnew’s, 1933, no.76; Agnew’s, 1936, no.151; Agnew’s, 1949, no.81; Agnew’s, 1950, no.43, £550 with TG1093; Agnew’s, 1953a, no.58; London, 1959, no.719; London, 1962a, no.135; Reading, 1969, no.40; New Haven, 1982, III.17.; New Haven, 1986a, no.67; London, 2002, no.58 as c.1798
Bibliography
Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.64
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, 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, USA
A Town on an Estuary
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
A Lagoon Capriccio
Birmingham Museum & 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
Private Collection
Kelso Abbey: The West Front
The Whitworth, 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, 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, Birkenhead
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 City Art Gallery
Kirk Deighton, near Wetherby
The Whitworth, 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, 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 City 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 City 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
An Upland Landscape, Identified as Storiths Heights, near Bolton Abbey
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Richmond Castle, from the River Swale
Leeds City 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 Museum & 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
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
Kelso Abbey: The West Front
Private Collection, Northumberland
The Eildon Hills, from the River Tweed at Dryburgh
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 Art Gallery, Sheffield
Lydford Castle, from the River Lyd
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
St Vincent’s Rocks and the Avon Gorge
The Whitworth, 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 Pinckney's Farm, Radwinter
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
A Mountain Stream with a Watermill and Bridge
Eton College, Windsor
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
This slightly faded watercolour shows Warkworth Castle looking north west from the banks of the river Coquet, from where the defensive strength of the site might be fully appreciated, with the late fourteenth-century Great Tower to the left and the distinctive minaret-like form of the remains of the Little Stair Tower to the right. The watercolour is one of two versions of a composition (the other being TG1094) that Girtin sketched on his tour to the north east in 1796 (TG1093). Contemporary guidebooks often quoted Francis Grose’s (c.1731–91) view that the appearance of the ‘magnificent and picturesque’ ruin of Warkworth ‘does not excite the idea of one of those rugged fortresses destined solely for war, whose gloomy towers suggest to the imagination only dungeons, chains, and executions’; it was, he continued, more like an ‘ancient hospitable mansion’ (quoted in Scott, 1814, p.11). The mood of Girtin’s view of Warkworth could not be more different, however, as he created an image of stark simplicity with a bold massing of forms and a sombre palette, the effect of which may even have been enhanced by the loss of the green tones due to fading. This is particularly the case in the foreground and beyond, where the artist used a large brush to wash in dark swathes of colour that envelop the cottages that shelter under the castle walls and all but obscure the crouching nude figure who prepares to bathe in the river.
The severity of the effect is in marked contrast to that of the slightly smaller version of the composition (TG1094), which I suspect is an unfinished studio work of around 1797–98, rather than a later on-the-spot sketch as proposed by Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.83). The contrast with that watercolour is just one of a number of reasons that I disagree with the dating of this work by the authors of the catalogue of Girtin’s drawings, who proposed that it was begun around 1796–97 and that the artist reworked it in 1798. The idea that the artist returned to his watercolours in order to refashion them at a later date is a common theme of theirs, but, rather than reflecting Girtin’s working practice, it generally appears to me to be a unsatisfactory explanation for why certain drawings do not fit into their rigid stylistic periods. In this case, I suspect that the work is just a straightforward later version of the 1796 composition, made around 1800–1801, and I therefore wish to amend the date I gave in the catalogue of Girtin’s 2002 bicentenary exhibition (Smith, 2002b, p.84). The key stylistic point of comparison that helps to confirm this is A Distant View of Guisborough Priory (TG1699), with its very similar foreground. Girtin did not sketch that subject until 1800 (TG1612), and this watercolour must therefore date from later than the 1798 previously proposed.
1797 - 1798
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
TG1094
(?) 1796
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
TG1093
1797 - 1798
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
TG1094
1800 - 1801
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory; The Tithe Barn, Abbotsbury
TG1699
(?) 1800
Guisborough Priory: The Ruined East End
TG1612