- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Warkworth Church
- Date
- 1800
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 31.2 × 46.7 cm, 12 ¼ × 17 ½ in
- Inscription
‘Girtin, 1800’ lower centre, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Durham and Northumberland; Gothic Architecture: Parish Church
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1710
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 351
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001 and 2018
Provenance
James Mitan (1776–1822) (lent to London, 1822); his posthumous sale, Foster’s, 20 March 1823, lot 65; ... Vicar Brothers; bought from them by Thos. Agnew & Sons (stock no.8229), 9 February 1914; bought by Annie Cunliffe-Lister (1856–1929), 7 October 1918, £131 5s; her posthumous sale, Christie's, 28 November 1930, lot 127; bought by 'Walker', 89 gns; Walker’s Galleries, London; Arthur Edward Anderson (c.1871–1938); presented by him to the Museum, 1931
Exhibition History
London, 1822, no.70 as ’Warksworth Church’
Bibliography
Mayne, 1949, p.100; Brown, 1982, pp.338–39, no.738 with the comment: 'the attribution to Girtin does not seem conclusive'
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
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
- 1 The details are contained in a letter from Reynolds to Sawrey Gilpin (1733–1807). The letter is transcribed in the Documents section of the Archive (1801 – Item 4).
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About this Work
This very faded watercolour shows the spire of the church of St Lawrence at Warkworth in Northumberland, with the river Coquet in the foreground. The church is situated under the shadow of the celebrated castle, and the building can be seen to the left of two early watercolours that Girtin produced from the sketches of his first significant patron, the antiquarian and amateur artist James Moore (1762–99) (TG0121 and TG0177). Girtin visited the site for himself a few years later, in 1796, when he made a number of sketches of the castle (TG1093) and the village at Warkworth together with the famous ‘hermitage’ (TG1095). These provided him with subjects that he was to return to throughout the remainder of his career (for example,TG1096 and TG1711). All of these are standard compositions that have precedents or parallels in the work of contemporary artists, including Thomas Hearne (1744–1817) and Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), but none depicted the site in such an obscure and unconventional way as this, with a humble row of cottages half obscured by a featureless wall, which in turn effaces any trace of the significant Norman church except from part of the tower, topped by its distinctive fourteenth-century spire. The daring nature of a composition that reverses the standard hierarchy of topographical interest, placing a wall ahead of a picturesque Gothic church with a humble rustic group added for good measure, is, however, sadly compromised by the watercolour’s very poor condition. This was such that it led David Brown in his catalogue of the collection of drawings of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, to conclude that ‘the attribution to Girtin does not seem conclusive’ (Brown, 1982, p.339). The signature and date, however, seem absolutely authentic, and I cannot think of anyone else at this date who would have produced such a daring and subversive composition. However, the fact is that its impact has been quite spoilt by Girtin’s choice of fugitive pigments, which has seen, just as in Warkworth Hermitage (TG1097), the loss of all of the sky, both the grey clouds and the blue spaces in between, and all of the greens of the grass and the foliage. A sublime view of a dramatically located castle or a carefully composed picturesque view might still be effective despite such a deterioration, but, stripped of the full range of its subtle tints, Girtin’s watercolour in this case no longer convinces or engages.
Such is the fate of so many of the artist’s later watercolours, and there is indeed some evidence that this work was one of those Girtin supplied around 1800–1801 to Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835), who acted on behalf of the artist in his final years in a role somewhere between agent and dealer. Thus, the work conforms to the smaller of the standard sizes that Girtin made for Reynolds to dispose of on the open market, drawings that the latter valued at four guineas each in late 1801 (Reynolds, Letter, 1801).1 The fact that the watercolour is dated is also a telling sign. Prior to 1800, the artist inscribed only one or two of his works annually, but this number rose to over thirty in that year and twenty in the following. It seems that the change in his practice was governed by the need to prove to the market that his agent was not hawking old, unsold stock.
1792 - 1793
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
TG0121
1792 - 1793
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
TG0177
(?) 1796
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
TG1093
(?) 1796
Warkworth Hermitage
TG1095
1798
Warkworth Hermitage
TG1096
1800 - 1801
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
TG1711
1798 - 1799
Warkworth Hermitage
TG1097