- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) and Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851)
- Title
-
- Buildings in the Process of Demolition, Said to Be the Ruins of the Savoy Palace
- Date
- 1794 - 1797
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on wove paper, on an early mount
- Dimensions
- 20.6 × 30 cm, 8 ⅛ × 11 ¾ in
- Mount Dimensions
- 36.8 × 48 cm, 14 ½ × 18 ⅞ in
- Object Type
- Collaborations; Monro School Copy
- Subject Terms
- London and Environs; Urban Ruins
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG0367
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in November 2017
Provenance
Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833); his posthumous sale, Christie’s, 26 June 1833, lot 98, as 'The ruins of the Savoy Palace 4' by 'Turner'; bought by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), £3 3s; accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest, 1856
Exhibition History
National Gallery, London, on display up to 1904, no.794 as ’Wingfield Manor, Derbyshire (early)’
Bibliography
Finberg, 1909, vol.2, p.1232 as 'Ruins' by Thomas Girtin; Wilton, 1984a, p.16; Turner Online as '(?) The Ruins of the Savoy Palace' by Joseph Mallord William Turner and Thomas Girtin (Accessed 06/09/2022)
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About this Work
This monochrome watercolour of buildings in the process of demolition was bought at the sale of Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833) in 1833 by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) in a lot that contained two views of the ruins of the Savoy Palace near the Strand (TG0368 and TG0369) (Exhibitions: Christie’s, 26 June 1833, lot 98). Turner purchased numerous drawings at the posthumous sale of his early patron, a large majority of which were watercolours he had collaborated on with Girtin at Monro’s home at the Adelphi, close to the Savoy itself. As in this case, Girtin produced a pencil outline drawing and Turner then added watercolour washes in a muted palette. The overwhelming majority of the four hundred or so collaborations commissioned by Monro were made after the sketches of other artists, but two of the Savoy subjects (TG0368 and TG0369) were created after sketches made by Girtin around 1795 (TG0331 and TG0240), with the artist copying his own outlines onto a sheet of paper for Turner to colour. Given that the Savoy was only a few yards from Monro’s home, it is likely that this work too was made from an untraced drawing by Girtin. However, the identification of the partially demolished building as the Savoy is not entirely secure. None of the images of the complex of buildings on the site resemble the structure shown here, and, given that one of the drawings that made up the lot of four ‘ruins of the Savoy Palace’ bought by Turner shows an unrelated view of Wingfield Manor (Turner Bequest (CCCLXXIV 23)), it may, in fact, depict another of the many building projects that were in progress in London at this date.
The drawing is in poor condition, damaged by its extensive exposure to light when on exhibition. At some point after being acquired by Turner it was pasted into an album of Swiss and Italian views made by Girtin and Turner for Monro, where it cuts an incongruous figure. There is, however, no question about the joint identity of the artists involved in its production.
1795 - 1796
An Exterior View of Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
TG0368
1795 - 1796
An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
TG0369
1795 - 1796
An Exterior View of Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
TG0368
1795 - 1796
An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
TG0369
1795 - 1796
An Exterior View of Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
TG0331
1795 - 1796
An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
TG0240