- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- (?) Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- A Distant View of Marlow, from the River Thames
- Date
- 1795 - 1796
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 11.5 × 21 cm, 4 ½ × 8 ¼ in
- Object Type
- Colour Sketch: Studio Work
- Subject Terms
- Buckinghamshire View; River Scenery; The River Thames
-
- Versions
-
A Distant View of Marlow, from the River Thames
(TG0344a)
- Catalogue Number
- TG0344
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 178 as 'Great Marlow Church'; '1796-7'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001
Provenance
W. H. Behrens; his sale, Christie's, 22 January 1926, lot 19; bought by 'Palser', £36 15s; J. Palser & Sons; sold 1 June 1926; ... Squire Gallery, London, 1947; bought from them by Gilbert Davis (1899-1983); bought from him by the Gallery, 1959
Exhibition History
Arts Council, 1955, no.36
Place depicted
Other entries in Master and Pupil:
Edward Dayes and the Industrious Apprentice
An Icelandic Woman in Her Riding Dress
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik
An Icelandic Woman with Her Young Daughter
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik
The Great Geysir, Iceland, as It Appeared during Its Eruption to Sir Joseph Banks in September 1772
Private Collection
Mount Hekla, with Sir Joseph Banks and His Party Descending from the Volcano
Private Collection
Lava as It Has Run Over the Ridge of a Hill, Iceland
Private Collection
The House of Thorstein Jonsson at Hvaleyri, Iceland
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik
A Section of the 'Boiling Fountains' (Geysers) and the Surrounding Country, Iceland
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The Basalt Pillars near Laugarnes, Iceland
Private Collection
An Icelandic Woman in Her Bridal Dress
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik
Durham Cathedral, from the River Wear
The Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg
Eton College, from the River
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
London: Interior of St Stephen Walbrook, Looking East
Private Collection
Rochester, from the River Medway
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
St Mary’s Church, Battersea
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
Unidentified Coastal Village, Said to Be Clovelly
Private Collection
The Monument to Anthony and Anne Forster, Cumnor Church
Private Collection
The Interior of Buildwas Abbey Church
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Somerset House: The Strand Front and the Royal Academy
Untraced Works
An Exterior View of Henry VII’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
Westminster Bridge, from the North East
Untraced Works
The Oxford Street Facade of the Pantheon
Untraced Works
The Interior of Westminster Abbey: The Nave Looking East
Untraced Works
The Queen’s Palace, or Buckingham House
Royal Collection Trust (Windsor)
The King’s Mews, Charing Cross
London Metropolitan Archives
The East Front of St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of St Martin-in-the-Fields
Untraced Works
The Banqueting House, Whitehall
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The Interior of St Paul’s Cathedral: The Nave Looking East
Untraced Works
St Paul’s Cathedral, from the South West
Untraced Works
The West Front of St Paul’s Cathedral
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Westminster Abbey
Untraced Works
Interior of St Stephen Walbrook, Looking East
Untraced Works
A French Lady of Quality in 1581
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Edward VI in 1550
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Noble Virgin of Bologna in 1581
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Persian Lady in 1568
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An English Nobleman in 1559
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Henry VIII in 1520
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Marlow, from across the River Thames
Private Collection
Tynemouth Priory, from the Coast
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
The River Wensum at Norwich
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Rochester Castle, from the River Medway
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Tintern Abbey, from the River Wye
Courtauld Gallery, London
All Saints' Church, Fulham, from the Seven Bells, Putney
Private Collection
London from Highgate Hill
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
'First Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Officer and Subaltern
British Museum, London
'First Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Sergeant and Private
British Museum, London
First Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660: Drummer and Private
Brown University Library, Providence, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection
'Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, 1650': Officer and Sergeant
British Museum, London
'Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, 1650': Sergeant and Private
British Museum, London
Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, 1650: Drummer and Corporal
Brown University Library, Providence, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection
'Third Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Officer and Sergeant
British Museum, London
'Third Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Grenadier and Private
British Museum, London
Third Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660: Drummer and Private
Brown University Library, Providence, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection
Christ Church, Southwark
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Llanthony Priory
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Rochester, from the North
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The View from the Great Boathouse, Lake Windermere
Private Collection
Westminster Abbey and Bridge, from Lambeth
Private Collection
The Dover Mail, Dover Castle in the Distance
Private Collection
Rochester Cathedral and Castle, from the North East
Eton College, Windsor
Worcester, from the River Severn
Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
Lake Windermere and Belle Isle
Wordsworth Grasmere (Dove Cottage and Wordsworth Museum)
London Bridge, from the South Bank
Private Collection
The Demolition of a Building, Said to Be Part of the Ruins of Old Drury Lane Theatre
Private Collection
Dover Castle: The Constable's Tower
Untraced Works
A Cottage on the Solent
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Hereford Cathedral, from the River Wye
Hereford Museum and Art Gallery
Chepstow Castle, on the River Wye
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Warehouse and Shipping at Wapping
Leicester Museum & Art Gallery
A Distant View of Hereford Cathedral
Private Collection
The Gatehouse and Barbican, Warwick Castle
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Chepstow Castle, from the River Wye
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Interior of a Ruined Abbey Church
Private Collection
The Head of Ullswater, from Goborrow Park
Private Collection
Part of the Ruins of Roche Abbey
Private Collection
The Transept of St Saviour’s, Southwark
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Palace, Westminster Bridge Beyond
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Durham Cathedral, from the River Wear
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne
All Saints' Church, Marlow
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Caesar’s Tower, Warwick Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Bronze Age Palstave and a Roman Bow Brooch
Society of Antiquaries of London
All Saints' Church, Marlow
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Unidentified Monastic Ruins next to a River
Private Collection
Westminster, from the Ruins of the Savoy
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Manchester: Chetham’s College from Hunt’s Bank, with the Bridge over the River Irwell
Untraced Works
Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Palace, Westminster Bridge Beyond
Private Collection
The Oriel Window of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Exterior View of Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Private Collection
A Distant View of Marlow, from the River Thames
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
A Distant View of Marlow, from the River Thames
Private Collection
An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Palace, Westminster Bridge Beyond
Private Collection
Buildings in the Process of Demolition, Said to Be the Ruins of the Savoy Palace
Tate, London
An Exterior View of Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Tate, London
An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Tate, London
St Mary’s Church, Monken Hadley
Tate, London
An Exterior View of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The Interior of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Private Collection
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Private Collection
The Interior of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
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About this Work
This view of the village of Marlow looking west from the river Thames, with the spire of All Saints’ Church showing prominently, was catalogued by Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak as the model for an engraving by John Walker (active 1766–1802) for his publication The Copper-Plate Magazine (see print after TG0344a) (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.158). However, although the views tally in general, numerous details do not match, including the form of the spire and, more significantly, the proportions of the composition, which are more panoramic than another watercolour (crucially, the same size as the print) that emerged on the art market after the publication of Girtin and Loshak’s catalogue (TG0344a). Although it is now clear that this watercolour was not the model for the 1797 engraving, its precise function has not become clearer. The more extended view depicts the details of the bridge and the form of the church spire more accurately than the engraved scene, which seems to have been made after another artist, perhaps Girtin’s master Edward Dayes (1763–1804), but it is hard to see how it could have been made from a new sketch made on the spot when it repeats the same composition so closely. The watercolour is not in good condition; as the strips to the top and to the right illustrate, it has faded badly over the years, and this has also contributed to doubts about the attribution of the work to Girtin himself. Susan Morris, in a note in the file on the work at Huntington, has even suggested that it may be a copy of the print by Walker possibly painted by François Louis Thomas Francia (1772–1839). Although the condition of the work does not help, the poor quality of the colouring in particular does indeed suggest that the watercolour may have been copied by an anonymous artist from the print and that some of its details were corrected in the process.
Another possibility is opened up by the existence of a hand-coloured soft-ground etching that was published after Girtin’s death by Jack Harris (unknown dates) on 4 January 1805 (see the print after, above). This, together with another soft-ground etching of the same size, Cottages near Newcastle (see print after TG1084), form a pair, though the colouring was of course added by a later hand. Girtin and Loshak argued that impressions of both prints were taken from plates etched by Girtin himself and that they were an experiment or test exercise in the reproductive process that he was to employ to such fine effect in his Paris prints in 1802 (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.25). However, both prints are poor things in comparison, and, though it is possible that they were produced by Girtin from his own watercolours, equally it could simply have been a case of a publisher commissioning a reproduction of drawings in his possession. My initial thought, namely that the watercolour at Huntington (TG0344) is actually a hand-coloured etching too, with either Girtin or another artist adding sufficient colour to efface the etched line, can be discounted by overlaying images of the two works. Some of the forms do indeed match up, but the composition has been compressed so that the etching conforms to more standard and less panoramic proportions.
Image Overlay
1795 - 1796
A Distant View of Marlow, from the River Thames
TG0344a
1795 - 1796
A Distant View of Marlow, from the River Thames
TG0344a
(?) 1800
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle-upon-Tyne
TG1084