- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- (?) Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- A Rainbow over the River Exe
- Date
- (?) 1800
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 30 × 48.9 cm, 11 ¾ × 19 ¼ in
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- River Scenery; The West Country: Devon and Dorset
-
- Collection
-
- Graves Gallery, Sheffield
- (VIS.LI.1134)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1733
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 345iii as 'Rainbow on the Exe', by Thomas Girtin; '1800'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001
Provenance
Samuel Williams; his posthumous sale, Christie’s, 28 July 1884, lot 96, as 'View on the Exe, with rainbow', 14 ½ gns; bought by John Annan Bryce (1841–1923) (lent to London, 1891); Josiah Wood Whymper (1813–1903); his posthumous sale, Christie's, 6 June 1903, lot 8 as ‘The Rainbow’; bought by ‘Agnew’ for £21; Thos. Agnew & Sons; E. H. Greg; Mrs Wood; J. Palser & Sons; ... Thos. Agnew & Sons, 1940-41; bought by the Sheffield Town Trust, £850, with funds from the Maleham Bequest; on long-term loan to the Gallery
Exhibition History
London, 1891, no.42 as ’View on the Exe’; Agnew's, 1904, no.10 as 'The Rainbow'; Agnew's, 1940, no.104, annotated 'Exmouth'; Agnew's, 1941, no.6 as 'On the Exe: the Rainbow', £200
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
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
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
A River View with Buildings, Probably in Yorkshire
Preston Park Museum and Grounds, Stockton-on-Tees
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
A Village Scene, Probably Finchingfield in Essex
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
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
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
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Kelso Abbey, from the River Tweed
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
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
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, Probably Pinkneys 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 It is of course possible that the drawing was cut down at some point, though it was recorded with these dimensions when sold at an early auction (Christie's, 15 December 1888, lot 63).
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
Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak listed a third version of Girtin’s celebrated composition showing a rainbow over the Exe taken from the riverbank near Powderham Castle. Like the version in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland (TG1729), this work has faded badly, making judgement about its authenticity difficult. As with that work, I initially suspected that this is a copy by an unknown artist, perhaps working from one of the two mezzotints (see the two prints after TG1730) that were published after the signed and dated watercolour by Girtin now in the collection of the Huntington Library and Art Gallery (TG1730). One of the many copies of the composition (see TG1730 figure 1) appears to be by Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835), who acted on behalf of the artist in a role somewhere between agent and dealer from 1800 onwards, as well as producing mezzotints after Girtin’s watercolours and I initially thought that he was the author of this work. However, over the years I have become more appreciative of how Girtin’s authorship can be obscured by the way in which his choice of pigments have resulted in a faded condition in which the original colour balance has been heavily distorted. This watercolour, especially in comparison with the prime version (TG1730), may not be of the highest quality, but there is just about enough characteristic detail remains to suggest that is by Girtin himself, though a question mark inevitably remains for a work in such a condition that is unsigned and has no early provenance.
Something similar can be said about another faded version of the composition in Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery (see figure 1). This spectacular example of differential fading was again deemed to be a copy in the first iteration of this catalogue, but I now think that the work is in all probability by Girtin himself. In particular, the adoption of a more extended panoramic composition is not something that a copyist is every likely to have attempted.1 Moreover, a copyist is unlikely to have employed two different blue pigments, one which has faded badly for the greys of the clouds and the greens of the vegetation and another for the water, sky and distant landscape which has stood reasonably well. The resulting disjunction between the predominantly brown foreground and the distance of water and hills that is so detrimental to the overall effect of the work is, I would argue, evidence of Girtin’s authorship. However, as with the version in the Graves Gallery I have retained a question mark ahead of Girtin’s name reflecting the poor quality of the draughtsmanship in the figures and the vegetation. Yet another version is known from an old photograph in the Witt Library, London, as coming from the collection of ‘N. L. Silvester’ in Bournemouth, and no doubt more copies await discovery.
1800
A Rainbow over the River Exe
TG1729
1800
A Rainbow over the River Exe
TG1730
1800
A Rainbow over the River Exe
TG1730
1800
A Rainbow over the River Exe
TG1730