- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Dunstanburgh Castle
- Date
- 1797 - 1798
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 63.8 × 52.1 cm, 25 ⅛ × 20 ½ in
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour; Visible Fold in the Paper
- Subject Terms
- Castle Ruins; Durham and Northumberland
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1102
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in January 2022
Provenance
Sir John Edward Swinburne (1762–1860) (lent to London, 1823); then by descent to Sir John Swinburne (1831–1914); his posthumous sale, Christie's, 4 June 1915, lot 7, sold with 'Bamborough Castle', TG1103; bought by 'Palser', £25 4s; J. Palser & Sons (stock no.17776); bought by 'Spurries', 21 January 1916; Christie's, 29 April 1921, lot 37 as 'Border Castle'; bought by 'Runciman', £58; Walter Runciman; then by descent
Exhibition History
London, 1823, no.149 as ’Dunstanborough Castle’ (Lady’s Magazine, January 1823, p.52)
Place depicted
Other entries in The 1796 Northern Tour to Yorkshire, the North East and the Scottish Borders:
Sketches and Subsequent Watercolours

Bamburgh Castle, from the South
Cragside House, Northumberland (National Trust)

Durham Cathedral, from the South West
British Museum, London

The Ouse Bridge, York, from the North Shore
British Museum, London

The Ouse Bridge, York, from Skeldergate Postern
York Art Gallery

York: The New Walk on the Banks of the Ouse
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

York Minster, from the South West
Private Collection

York Minster, from the South West
Private Collection

York Minster, from the Ouse, with St Mary’s Abbey
Harewood House, Yorkshire

The South Side of York Minster, Showing the Transept and the Western Towers
Private Collection, Yorkshire

York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
British Museum, London

Unidentified Gothic Ruins, Said to Be St Mary’s Abbey, York
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery

A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Private Collection

A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Harewood House, Yorkshire

A Distant View of Rievaulx Abbey
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Private Collection

Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Manchester Art Gallery

Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The Bridge at Warkworth, with the Church Beyond
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Richmond, Yorkshire: The Seventeenth-Century House Known as St Nicholas
British Museum, London

Richmond Castle and Bridge, from the River Swale
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino

Richmond Castle and Bridge, from the River Swale
Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool

Richmond Castle and Town, from the South East
Private Collection

Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
British Museum, London

Egglestone Abbey, from the River Tees
Gallery Oldham

Egglestone Abbey, on the River Tees
British Museum, London

Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester

Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir
Private Collection, Norfolk

Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir; Dryburgh Abbey with the Eildon Hills Beyond
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery

Durham Cathedral, from the South West
Private Collection

St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Private Collection

Tynemouth Priory, from the Coast
Cleveland Museum of Art

Bothal Castle, from the River Wansbeck
Private Collection

A River Scene with a Tower, Said to Be the Tyne near Hexham
Leeds Art Gallery

Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Private Collection, Norfolk

The Bridge at Warkworth, with the Castle Beyond
Untraced Works

Dunstanburgh Castle, Viewed from a Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Dunstanburgh Castle: The Lilburn Tower
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Lindisfarne: An Interior View of the Ruins of the Priory Church
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester

Lindisfarne: An Interior View of the Ruins of the Priory Church
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge

An Interior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Lindisfarne: The Nave and Crossing of the Priory Church
British Museum, London

An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Private Collection

York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Dryburgh Abbey: The South Transept Looking North
Private Collection

Dryburgh Abbey: The South Transept from the Cloister
Private Collection

Melrose Abbey: The Ruined Presbytery and the East Window
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown

Melrose Abbey: The Ruined Presbytery and the East Window
Cooper Gallery, Barnsley

Melrose Abbey, from the North East
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York

Jedburgh Abbey, from the North East
Private Collection

Jedburgh Abbey, from Jed Water
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins
British Museum, London

The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins
Private Collection, Bedfordshire

The West Front of Jedburgh Abbey
British Museum, London

Jedburgh Abbey, from the South East
Blickling Hall, Norfolk (National Trust)

The Ruins of the Lady Chapel, near Bothal
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence

Bamburgh Castle, from the Village
Guy Peppiatt Fine Art Ltd

St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool

Richmond, Yorkshire: The Seventeenth-Century House Known as St Nicholas
Private Collection

An Interior View of Fountains Abbey: The East Window from the Presbytery
Graves Gallery, Sheffield

St Mary’s, Old Malton, on the River Derwent
Untraced Works

York: Pavement, Looking towards All Saints
Private Collection
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About this Work
This dramatic view on the Northumberland coast shows the Lilburn Tower, an outlying part of the substantial ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle. The same part of the castle is the subject of a smaller watercolour (TG1101) that includes a more striking seascape, though its more conventional format and comparatively bland skyscape lack the drama of this watercolour, which despite its faded condition still impresses. Both watercolours no doubt derived from sketches that Girtin made during his first independent tour, to the north east and the Scottish Borders in 1796, when he studied a more distant view of the castle and the adjacent coastline, again from the north (TG1100). To realise the dramatic potential of the site, Girtin moved his viewpoint to below and close to the cliff and adopted a boldly centralised composition that was derived from his study of the work of John Robert Cozens (1752–97). Having created watercolours such as An Unidentified Fort on a Cliff by the Sea (TG0662) for Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833), Girtin was now equipped to develop a dramatic composition that united the fourteenth-century tower and the rocky outcrop into a monumental form of great power. Girtin employed a similar structure in a number of other views in Northumberland, including Bamburgh Castle (TG1104) and Lindisfarne Castle (TG1113), both of which similarly stress the way that the ancient building springs organically from its setting and, though battered and shaped by the elements, still stands proud.
The first owner of the work was Sir John Edward Swinburne (1762–1860) of Capheaton Hall in Northumberland, whose collection also included an even more impressive view of the nearby Bamburgh Castle (TG1103). Although there would have been an obvious attraction for Swinburne of the two local scenes, there is no direct evidence that he actually commissioned the watercolours from Girtin, and they were certainly not conceived as a pair. Thus, despite their similar subjects, they are on different scales and adopt contrasting formats, and the view of Bamburgh was painted, it seems, a year or two later than this neighbouring view of Dunstanburgh. The fine condition of the Bamburgh view, typical of the watercolours that emerged in the aftermath of the 1796 tour, contrasts with the faded effect seen here – the result, I suspect, in changes to Girtin’s palette around 1798–99 that saw the use of more light-sensitive pigments, such as indigo for the blues. The fact that the works were painted at different times does not preclude them having been commissioned, however, and it is unlikely that two such large watercolours would have been produced in the hope of finding a buyer on the open market as they constitute a significant investment of labour on Girtin’s behalf. Watercolours of such impressive dimensions were invariably produced to be framed to form part of a carefully arranged display in a generously scaled domestic interior, and Girtin went to considerable lengths to produce works that might make an impact on the wall.
Swinburne is not known to have owned any other works by Girtin and he did not subscribe to the artist’s Paris prints in 1802. However, though there is no documentary evidence from the artist’s lifetime to confirm Swinburne as a patron, rather than a collector, the fact that he lent both the Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh works to an exhibition in 1823 again suggests this as a possibility (Exhibitions: London, 1823). The exhibition of drawings and engravings was organised by William Bernard Cooke (1778–1855) to illustrate the progress of watercolour painting in Britain and here, on the occasion of the first display in public of Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea (TG1740), the so-called White House at Chelsea, Girtin’s posthumous reputation began to be forged in earnest. The critic of the Lady’s Magazine thus noted that ‘his style, like that of Wilson, is grand, broad, and true’, adding that ‘he had the rare faculty of seizing upon the essence of what constitutes grandeur and beauty in nature, without the labour of minute detail’. Dunstanburgh Castle, ‘in the possession of Sir J. Swinburne, bart.’ is ‘one of his finest drawings’, the anonymous writer continued, ‘and may be classed with the epic of landscape; the scene is grand, the chiaro oscuro wild, solemn, and effective; the colour deep, and the execution broad and firm: and there are other drawings from the hand of this lamented genius, all bearing the stamp of that divine source from which he drew nature’ (Lady’s Magazine, January 1823).
1797 - 1798
Dunstanburgh Castle: The Lilburn Tower
TG1101
(?) 1796
Dunstanburgh Castle, Viewed from a Distance
TG1100
1794 - 1797
An Unidentified Fort on a Cliff by the Sea
TG0662
1798 - 1799
Bamburgh Castle
TG1104
1796 - 1797
Lindisfarne Castle
TG1113
1797 - 1798
Bamburgh Castle
TG1103
1800
Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea (The White House, Chelsea)
TG1740