- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
- Date
- 1800
- Medium and Support
- Graphite, watercolour and scratching out on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 36.1 × 31.9 cm, 14 ¼ × 12 ½ in
- Inscription
‘Girtin. 1800’ lower left, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- River Scenery; The Village; Yorkshire View
-
- Collection
- Versions
-
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
(TG1508a)
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck (TG1694)
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck (TG1695)
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck (TG1696)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1693
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 392ii as 'Hawes, Yorkshire'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001, 2002 and April 2024
Provenance
Charles Sackville Bale (1791–1880) (lent to London, 1875); his posthumous sale, Christie’s, 13 May 1881, lot 95 as 'Old Bridge and Houses'; bought by 'Agnew', £54 12s; Thos. Agnew & Sons (stock no.6076); bought by James Worthington, 30 September 1881, £60 1s 6d; John Palmer Philips; presented to the Museum, 1910
Exhibition History
London, 1875, no.2 as ’Old Bridge and Houses with a Waterfall on the Right’; London, 1934b, no.738; Bucharest, 1935, no.137; Leeds, 1937, no.22; Agnew’s, 1953a, no.79; Salisbury, Rhodesia, 1957, no.232; Worthing, 1960, no.62; Amsterdam, 1965, no.55; Lyons, 1966, no.69; Prague, 1969, no.61; Bourges, 1970, no.57; Manchester, 1975, no.76; Birmingham, 1987, no.14; London, 1992, no.14; London, 1993, no.141; Harewood, 1999, no.36; London, 2002, no.135 as ’Cottages at Hawes, from the River Ure, Yorkshire’
Bibliography
Birmingham, 1930, p.92; Davies, 1938, p.3; Anonymous, 1948, p.161; Mayne, 1949, p.101; Ellis, Honer and Roberts, 1999, pp.144–45
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 view of the village of Hawes in Wensleydale is taken from Gayle Beck looking upstream, and it is probably the earliest of four versions of what was one of Girtin’s most popular compositions (the others being TG1694, TG1695 and TG1696). The watercolours are all based on a pencil sketch that was probably made on Girtin’s trip to Yorkshire in 1799 (TG1508a), when the artist dated a view of the village of Middleham (TG1508), which would have been on the way to Hawes if he made the journey from his presumed base at Harewood House, the home of his patron Edward Lascelles (1764–1814). None of the four watercolours appear to have been commissioned, however, and they were certainly not owned by Lascelles. It seems that each was produced in response to sales on the open market, and only the latest of the versions (TG1696) offered any significant variation on this composition, whilst the other two are effectively replicas with only minor changes in small details to distinguish them. The popularity of the subject presumably meant that Girtin felt no need to change the focus of attention on the old packhorse bridge in the centre, with what appears to be a waterfall joining from the right and emptying into the river. But, as David Hill has shown in his catalogue of Girtin’s northern subjects, the artificial watercourse that fed the village’s mills is shown broken, with water temporarily tumbling back into the beck, and so, given that the original sketch includes this feature, it appears that the watercolours depict an actual event. As Hill has again noted, there were major floods in Yorkshire in 1799 and a number of Girtin’s watercolours from the following year ‘recorded the damage being repaired’, including Harewood Bridge (TG1551) and Wetherby Bridge and Mills (TG1642). The views of Hawes likewise show the effects of what must have been a harmful incident for the village’s economy (Hill, 1999, p.42).
Such an occurrence, however topical, is unlikely to account, on its own, for the success of Girtin’s composition, even though it added interest to a fairly standard picturesque mix of water, vernacular buildings and bridge. Judging the work’s attractiveness as a commodity is made considerably more difficult by the fact that the watercolour has faded badly, so that although at least the clouds have retained some of their dramatic greys, the blue from the sky has disappeared, together with some of the sky’s reflections in the water, and the greens of the vegetation have also been compromised. Enough remains to show that a broken sky has highlighted selected passages to fine effect, however, and one cannot help but wonder whether there might have been something else in the original appearance of the watercolour and the equally (if not more) faded subsequent versions that once evoked a powerful set of associations perhaps equivalent to the note of transient hope seen in Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea, the so-called White House at Chelsea (TG1740). Perhaps the development in the composition from sketch to watercolour, to include large areas of sky and water, provided the opportunity for the artist to create an evanescent effect that attracted sales but that we can only guess at today, when the solid realm of stone predominates.
1800 - 1801
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
TG1694
1800 - 1801
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
TG1695
1801
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
TG1696
1799 - 1800
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
TG1508a
1799
Middleham Village, with the Castle Beyond
TG1508
1801
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
TG1696
1800 - 1801
Harewood Bridge
TG1551
(?) 1800
Wetherby Bridge and Mills, Looking across the Weir
TG1642
1800
Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea (The White House, Chelsea)
TG1740