- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- (?) Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Buildings on the River Nidd, near Knaresborough
- Date
- 1800 - 1801
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper, on an original washline mount
- Dimensions
- 31.7 × 52.5 cm, 12 ½ × 20 ⅝ in
- Inscription
'River Scene T. Girtin' on the back
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- River Scenery; Yorkshire View
Provenance
William Watson Pattinson (1813–94), 1875; ... Percival Chater Manuk (1873–1946) and Gertrude Mary Coles (1884-1946); bequeathed to the Museum through the National Art-Collections Fund (The Art Fund), 1948
Bibliography
Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.186 as 'An early copy'; British Museum, Collection as 'River Scene' (Accessed 18/09/2022)
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 discovery that TG1549 was in the collection of William Watson Pattinson (1813–94) in 1875 might contradict this. An article on Pattinson's collection refers to ‘a fine work here by Girtin, “Near Knaresborough … It gives a river, with cows on the banks; one cow is in the water’ (The Athenaeum, no.2503, 16 October 1875, p.516).
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
Although this view of a stretch of the river Nidd near Knaresborough is currently attributed to Girtin, the authors of the first catalogue of the artist’s watercolours, Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak, described it as ‘An early copy’ of the very fine watercolour now in the collection of the Toledo Museum of Art (TG1550) (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.186). On its own, the work may pass for a less than inspiring second version of one of Girtin’s compositions, but Girtin and Loshak saw the excellent signed and dated watercolour before it left the UK and I am increasingly inclined to agree with their assessment that this drawing is, in contrast, no more than a good contemporary copy by another artist. Even making allowances for the fact that the work’s impact may have been compromised by its slightly faded and discoloured condition, details such as the poor perspective in the road leading to the river to the right, the overworked foreground with a ridiculous four-square cow, and, above all, the dull sky and formulaic trees, which fall far short of the vibrant effect seen in the Toledo watercolour, all suggest that this is a copy by another hand. The fact that the copyist used a similar palette to Girtin’s and worked on a piece of laid paper of the same type and dimensions that he commonly employed indicates someone who knew the artist’s work well and, just as importantly, had access to the original version. Given that the Toledo version of Buildings on the River Nidd, near Knaresborough (TG1550) was owned by Edward Lascelles (1764–1814), this would rule out Amelia Long, Lady Farnborough (1772–1837), who has been suggested as the copyist, but it would still leave Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835), who was responsible for a significant number of copies of Girtin watercolours that went through his hands around 1800 in his role as the artist’s representative, acting somewhere between agent and dealer. The evidence is not overwhelming, but my suspicion is that the best explanation for both this work’s similarities with the Toledo version and its comparative weaknesses is that it is a copy of a work that was sold by Reynolds to Lascelles, and that it was the former who was responsible for producing the replica.
This work, long known as ‘River Scene’ and titled ‘Unidentified Yorkshire Village’ by Girtin and Loshak, has recently been identified as showing a view on the river Nidd following the discovery of a sketch inscribed ‘Knaresborough’ which forms the basis for this and the other version of the composition (TG1550). This in turn opens up the intriguing possibility that a view titled ‘Knaresborough’ (TG1671) that has neither been illustrated or recorded since its sale in 1912 is actually the same work. Given that TG1671 was noted as having the same measurements there is therefore a chance that TG1549 and TG1671 are one and the same and that the two entries should therefore be merged. In which case, this watercolour should be recorded as having been exhibited at the 1875 centenary exhibition of Girtin’s works, lent from the collection of Richard Johnson (London, 1875, no.134).1
1800
Buildings on the River Nidd, near Knaresborough
TG1550
1800
Buildings on the River Nidd, near Knaresborough
TG1550
1800
Buildings on the River Nidd, near Knaresborough
TG1550
(?) 1800
Knaresborough
TG1671