- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- An Unidentified Scene, Formerly Known as ‘Kirkstall Village’
- Date
- 1801
- Medium and Support
- Graphite, watercolour and scratching out on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 31.3 × 48.9 cm, 12 ⅜ × 19 ¼ in
- Inscription
‘1801’ lower left, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- River Scenery; The Village; Unidentified Topographical View
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1639
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 449 as 'Village of Kirkstall'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001
Provenance
Walter Benjamin Tiffin (1795–1877); bought from him by George Wyndham Hog Girtin (1835–1911), 16 August 1860, one of four that cost £48 (lent to London, 1875; London, 1877); then by descent to Thomas Girtin (1874–1960); given to Tom Girtin (1913–94), c.1938; bought by John Baskett on behalf of Paul Mellon (1907–99), 1970; presented to the Center, 1986
Exhibition History
London, 1875, no.68 as 'Village of Kirkstall, Yorkshire'; London, 1877, no.304; Cambridge, 1920, no.32; Tokyo, 1929, no.74; Sheffield, 1953, no.53; London, 1962a, no.158; New Haven, 1986a, not in the catalogue
Bibliography
Lytton, 1911, no.10; Davies, 1924, pl.53; Mayne, 1949, pl.41
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
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About this Work
This badly faded watercolour has been identified since it was first exhibited in 1875 as showing the village of Kirkstall on the river Aire, a few hundred metres away from the celebrated abbey ruins. However, there is no independent evidence to confirm this, and nor might one expect there to be. The numerous artists who travelled to sketch the picturesque ruins nearby did not generally stop at the village, and there appears to be no other contemporary view of Kirkstall that might corroborate the old title of Girtin’s watercolour. The facades of the vernacular buildings are distinctive enough, together with the unusual combination of a footbridge and a ford for carts, for us to be reasonably sure that the scene is not invented, but as David Hill, the author of Thomas Girtin: Genius in the North (Hill, 1999), has concluded, the work ‘has nothing to do with Kirkstall’. Hill noted in a typically generous and well informed email dated 8 March 2024 ‘that there is no stream or river at Kirkstall so benign as to warrant a ford and a bridge and cottages built right over it’, whilst the ‘elaborate brick chimneys’ depicted by Girtin ‘are not at all characteristic of West Yorkshire, especially Kirkstall which is surrounded by excellent building stone’. The form of the vernacular architecture, he concludes, is more southern in character and I am in agreement with his suggestion that Surrey might be the most appropriate place to look for the location of Girtin’s village view. Girtin’s visit to the district around the home of Dr Thomas Monro at Fetcham resulted in a number of depictions of similar vernacular buildings (see TG1432 and TG1571), though the other area associated with this type of subject, rural Essex, might also be worth considering (see TG1788). Sadly, the closest parallel to this watercolour, a view of a village street painted in Paris in 1802 (TG1918), is also yet to be identified.
The poor, faded condition of the watercolour means that the sky, together with its reflection in the river, has disappeared almost completely, whilst the foliage to the right and the distant fields have changed to a dull tone, barely distinguishable from the earth colours used for the roof tiles. I suspect that this dated drawing from 1801 was once an outstanding work in which Girtin paid uncharacteristic attention to the animals and figures that populate the scene. In particular, he took care with the cart and horses watering in the river, and this detail may even have been based on his drawing Four Studies of a Cart (TG1522), which he appears to have made a few years earlier. Certainly, there is more logic to the action of the horses drinking in the river compared to the very similar group in a field in the watercolour known as The Carter (TG1523), and, in general, the work has a strong claim to being a snapshot of village life even if some of the figures, including the two men to the right of the bridge, are out of scale with the rest.
1799 - 1800
Farm Buildings, Probably in Surrey
TG1432
1800 - 1801
The Sawmill, Cassiobury Park
TG1571
(?) 1802
A Church in a Village, Possibly at Radwinter
TG1788
1802
A Village Scene
TG1918
1797 - 1798
Four Studies of a Cart
TG1522
1798 - 1799
An Open Field with a Cart and Horses, Known as ‘The Carter’
TG1523