- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- A Farm beyond a Field
- Date
- 1801 - 1802
- Medium and Support
- Watercolour on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 11.6 × 16.9 cm, 4 ⁹⁄₁₆ × 6 ⅝ in
- Object Type
- Colour Sketch: Studio Work
- Subject Terms
- Picturesque Vernacular; Rural Labour
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1797
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 422 as '1800–1'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001 and 2018
Provenance
Chambers Hall (1786–1855); presented to the Museum, 1855
Bibliography
Binyon, 1898–1907, no.23a
Other entries in Later Sketches:
Taken on the Spot and Worked in the Studio
Mountain Scenery, Said to Be near Beddgelert (page 15, reverse, of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
The Valley of the Glaslyn, near Beddgelert (page 15 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Trees in a Glade Overlooking a Lake
Private Collection
Middleham Village, with the Castle Beyond
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
An Extensive Landscape with the Ruins of Mitford Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Plumpton Rocks, near Knaresborough
Private Collection
A Parkland Landscape with Cattle and Sheep
Private Collection
John Raphael Smith: 'Waiting for the Mail Coach' (mounted on page 1 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea (page 11 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
The Stables, Plompton Park (page 17 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Harewood House, from the South West (page 18 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Grimbald Bridge, near Knaresborough (page 20 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
The Abbey Mill, near Knaresborough (page 25 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
A Farmhouse in Malhamdale, Known as 'Kirkby Priory, near Malham' (page 26 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Sandsend (page 29 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Grimbald Crag, near Knaresborough (page 30 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
A Crag on the River Nidd (page 31 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Guisborough Priory: The Ruined East End (page 33 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe
British Museum, London
An Interior View of the Choir of Bolton Priory
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe (page 37 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church, from across the River Wharfe (page 38 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
The East End of Bolton Priory Church (pages 38–39 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
A Distant View of Middleham Castle, with the River Ure in the Foreground (page 41 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Middleham Village, with the Castle Beyond (page 42 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
A Village at the Bend of a River, Probably in Yorkshire (page 44 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Beached Vessels at Low Tide (page 46 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Five Craft off the Coast on a Calm Sea (page 47 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Shipping off the Coast on a Calm Sea (page 48 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
The Ruins of Old Mulgrave Castle (page 49 of the Whitworth Book of Drawings)
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Mulgrave Park and Castle, from near Epsyke Farm
British Museum, London
The River Nidd between Knaresborough and Wetherby
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Kirkstall Abbey, with a Canal Barge
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The River Nidd, between Knaresborough and Wetherby
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
The Valley of the Tweed, with Melrose Abbey in the Distance
Private Collection
A Clump of Trees by the Waterside
Private Collection
A Torrent by a Clump of Trees
Harvard Art Museums / Fogg Museum, Loan from George and Patti White
A River Valley and a Distant Hill Seen through Trees
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
A Shady Road Leading to Cottages
British Museum, London
A Church in a Village, Possibly at Radwinter
British Museum, London
A Building with a Tall Chimney, next to a Stream
British Museum, London
Landscape with a Farmhouse and Cottage
Private Collection
A Schooner near the Shore
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Coast Scene with Two Beached Vessels
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Shipping Study: Five Craft on a Calm Sea
British Museum, London
Revisions & Feedback
The website will be updated from time to time and, when changes are made, a PDF of the previous version of each page will be archived here for consultation and citation.
Please help us to improve this catalogue
If you have information, a correction or any other suggestions to improve this catalogue, please contact us.
About this Work
This rather faded watercolour study, showing a farm and associated barns beyond a field, is related to a group of sketches of rural buildings that Girtin made in the studio towards the end of his life, such as A Barn by a Road (TG1793), though it is slightly larger in scale. The group of fifteen drawings appear to have come from one of the ‘little Books’ that were split up for sale after his death by his brother, John Girtin (1773–1821). Given that this work shares the same provenance, also coming from the collection of Chambers Hall (1786–1855), it too could date from the end of the artist’s life. It is unlikely that the drawing also comes from a book, not sharing its dimensions with any other sketch, but it employs a similar palette, and the subject too is closely related to a number of examples in the group at the British Museum. Some of these are clearly imaginary, but others, as here, resemble the picturesque vernacular subjects gathered by Girtin in Essex three or four years earlier (such as TG1757). The latter point has led me to conclude that, although they were evidently created at speed, studies such as this were not coloured on the spot and were painted instead in the studio to satisfy the market for the less formal aspects of the artist’s output. Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak dated the drawing to a little earlier (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.191). However, though it does not employ the same prominent pencil hatching that is seen in the group of fifteen, which they thought were made in 1802, the colouring is so close to a number of other watercolours, such as A Barn by a Road, as to suggest that it was worked on at the same time, possibly with the artist moving from one sheet to another, adding a single tone to each in turn. That said, it must be admitted that dating any of Girtin’s sketches for which there is no clearly identified subject inevitably involves an element of guesswork, and there are times when one longs for the sort of specific inscriptions that are part of the sketching practice of so many of Girtin’s contemporaries.
Leonard Gordon Duke (1889–1971) noted that a similar watercolour, probably of the same subject and forming a pair with this work, was once in his collection. He bought the drawing from the Squire Gallery, London, in 1937 and exchanged it with them in 1948. The drawing reappeared at an auction in September 2022 and is now included in this catalogue as TG1804.
(?) 1802
A Barn by a Road
TG1793
1800 - 1801
A Farmyard with Cattle, Poultry and Labourers Unloading Hay, Possibly Pinckney’s Farm, Radwinter
TG1757
(?) 1800
TG1804