This, the larger of two versions of a picturesque farm scene in open countryside (the other being TG1419) has for much of its history been identified as showing a view near Bromley in Kent on the basis of an inscription on the back of the drawing. The inscription, which identifies the distant building as ‘Bromley Church Kent’, is not in Girtin’s handwriting, however, and the tower seen in the watercolour bears no resemblance to that church’s four-square structure. Moreover, the landscape itself, in the absence of any distinctive topographical features, does not appear like the countryside around Bromley either. I suspect, therefore, that the inscription may have been added later and that it resulted from the fact that the watercolour is said to have been copied by one of Girtin’s pupils, Amelia Long, Lady Farnborough (1772–1837) (see figure 1), who lived at Bromley Hill House from 1801, painted views of the area, and may even have been the first owner of the work. Putting the old title to one side, the flat landscape is actually closer to the open scenery in Essex that formed the backdrop to many of the picturesque farm views that Girtin painted from around 1799, and the two barns shown here have much in common with the thatched structures seen in A Mill in Essex (TG1416), which has a similarly positioned pond in the foreground. The crucial point is not whether the view is in Kent or Essex, however, as the scene is essentially a picturesque view of vernacular buildings, and a topographically specific title is, I suggest, inappropriate in any case.

Sadly, the work is very faded, to the point where the sky (both the clouds and the main areas of blue) has disappeared completely, and the greens of the vegetation have also been lost, leaving no more than a general tone of sepia to dominate. Indeed, the only evidence that we are not looking at an unfinished monochrome drawing is two patches of blue in the distance, which must have been painted in a more stable pigment. No doubt the watercolour has been exhibited in strong light, and this has facilitated the fading process, but fundamentally it was Girtin’s choice of fugitive pigments used in multiple thin washes that caused the problem. Just two unstable pigments, probably blue indigo and yellow gamboge, if used exclusively for the blues of the sky, the greens of the vegetation and the greys of the clouds, would have been enough to account for much of the drastic deterioration seen here as well as for the impression that the work is unfinished, as the underdrawing in graphite shows up clearly. It may be, therefore, that Long’s use of more stable pigments means that her version of the composition provides evidence of the original appearance of Girtin's watercolour.

A copy of Girtin’s composition that passed through the salesrooms in 1981 (Christie’s, 6 May 1981, lot 59) with no image has recently reappeared on the art market (see figure 2) and the fact that it is closer to the artist’s composition than Long’s watercolour (see figure 1) suggests an altogether different narrative. The form of the roof of the barn and of the trees to the right in the middle ground in the newly identified watercolour (figure 2) are not just closer to the two Girtin watercolours but constitute a significant improvement on the composition of the work in Leeds (figure 1). This suggests to me that figure 1, which initially appeared to be a copy of the Girtin composition might actually have been the source for TG1418 and TG1419 much in the way that an early view of The Harbour at Weymouth (TG0911) turns out to be based on the work of an amateur, John Henderson (1764–1843) and that it was not therefore worked from life. I am particularly struck by the way that the disparate form of the trees seen in the Leeds drawing has been consolidated in figure 2 into an attractive mass that gives balance to the composition and links with the barns across the centre even though the work is clearly by an amateur of little artistic ability. It is inconceivable that the artist of figure 1 would jettison the strong central focus of Girtin’s composition in favour of shapeless and attenuated forms if the work was indeed a copy. My current thinking, therefore, is that just as Girtin transformed sketches by Sir George Beaumont (1753–1827) such as Borrowdale as a lesson for the amateur (see TG1582 source image), the professional artist here provides Amelia Long with an object lesson in how to tighten up a composition using her own work as the basis of the exercise.¹ With this in mind, I have changed the credit line of both watercolours to read Thomas Girtin (1775–1802), after (?) Amelia Long, Lady Farnborough (1772–1837).

1799 - 1800

Barns and a Pond, Said to Be near Bromley

TG1419

(?) 1799

A Mill in Essex

TG1416

1799 - 1800

Barns and a Pond, Said to Be near Bromley

TG1419

1796 - 1797

The Harbour at Weymouth

TG0911

1799 - 1800

Borrowdale

TG1582