John Thomas Smith (1766–1833) was a writer and printmaker who in 1797 published Remarks on Rural Scenery: With Twenty Etchings of Cottages, from Nature; and Some Observations and Precepts Relative to the Picturesque. Smith’s prints, such as In Green Street, Enfield Highway (see TG1431 figure 1), may not have influenced Girtin directly, but they certainly helped to create a demand for the younger artist’s picturesque rural scenes. Smith, in turn, acquired one of Girtin’s most panoramic compositions, A Panoramic Landscape, with Figures Trawling a Pond (TG1742), bought from the sale of John Raphael Smith (1752–1812) (Exhibitions: Dodd and Holland, 27–28 May 1814).

1798 - 1799

A Dilapidated Farm

TG1431

1800 - 1801

A Panoramic Landscape, with Figures Trawling a Pond

TG1742