- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
- Date
- 1800
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 58.7 × 48.5 cm, 23 ⅛ × 19 ⅛ in
- Inscription
‘Girtin 1800’ lower left, by Thomas Girtin; ‘Holy Island, St Cuthbert’s Cathedral / for Mr Tomkinson / Mr Reynolds I will thank you to send it’ on the back of the mount, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Samuel William Reynolds: Dealer; Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Durham and Northumberland; Monastic Ruins
Provenance
Thomas Tomkison (c.1764–1853); ... Miss Spence; her sale, Christie's, 19 March 1887, lot 36; bought by 'Harmer', 10 gns; Charles D'Oyly Harmer; then by descent to Lettice D'Oyly Walters (d.1940); then by descent; Christie’s, 19 March 1985, lot 101 as 'St. Cuthbert’s Cathedral, Holy Island', £5,400; Christie's, 7 July 2015, lot 95, £11,250 as 'View of St Cuthbert's Holy Island, Northumberland'; Christie's, online auction, 6–27 July 2020, lot 98, £11,250; Chiswick Auctions, 7 December 2021, lot 57, £4,500; bought by English Heritage
Exhibition History
London, 1924a, no.184
Bibliography
Art Work, vol.6, no.24 (Winter 1930), p.301
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
A Mountain Stream with a Watermill and Bridge
Eton College, Windsor
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 badly faded watercolour, showing the view looking east along the south flank of the ruins of the priory church at Lindisfarne, with the castle in the distance, is dated 1800. It is one of two versions of a composition that Girtin appears to have sketched in colour on the spot on his tour of the north east in 1796 (TG1109). The smaller version of the composition (TG1110), which is in much better condition, was almost certainly made soon after the tour and may serve to give some idea of what this work would have looked like in its unfaded state – that is, before the loss of the sky, the green tones of the vegetation and the distant view of the castle itself. That said, the later watercolour at least hints at the distinctive colour of the red sandstone used in the building’s construction, which is a major feature of the original on-the-spot sketch, though not the earlier watercolour. However, at the same time, I am not convinced that the squarer format of the work dated 1800 is an improvement on the earlier version, so that, even though the work is bigger in size, the drama of the ruins and their coastal setting has not necessarily been enhanced.
In view of the watercolour’s desperate condition, much of its interest lies in the inscription on the back, which reads ‘Holy Island, St Cuthbert’s Cathedral for Mr Tomkinson Mr Reynolds I will thank you to send it’. This not only identifies the subject of the work but also, in all probability, provides the name of its first owner, the instrument maker Thomas Tomkison (c.1764–1853). Hitherto unassociated with Girtin, Tomkison is better known as a patron of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) who bought a significant group of the watercolours that he produced for reproduction in his Picturesque Views in England and Wales. The ‘Reynolds’ Girtin addresses can also be identified, being Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835), who from sometime in 1800 began acting as Girtin’s representative, working in a role somewhere between agent and dealer. From a document dated 14 October 1801, we know that his stock of Girtin’s watercolours then numbered ‘19 Large size – at £7. 7 each’ and ‘10 smaller – 4. 4.’, though this work is much larger than either of the two standard sizes Girtin produced for Reynolds to sell on the open market (Reynolds, Letter, 1801).1 It may be, therefore, that his involvement in this work was no more than as a courier, with the artist himself either securing the sale on his own initiative or producing the work as a commission from Tomkison.
(?) 1796
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
TG1109
1797 - 1798
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
TG1110