- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Kirkby Malham
- Date
- 1801
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 32 × 51.5 cm, 12 ⅝ × 20 ¼ in
- Inscription
‘Girtin 1801’ lower left, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Gothic Architecture: Parish Church; Yorkshire View
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1690
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 447 as 'Bridge with a Church and Village (probably Horton, Yorks.)'
- Description Source(s)
- Auction Catalogue
Provenance
Probably Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, later Duchess of Sutherland (1765–1839); then by descent to George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 5th Duke of Sutherland (1888–1963); his sale, Christie's, 22 October 1948, lot 10 as 'A Church with Other Buildings on a River'; bought by 'Bowden', £189; Bury Street Gallery, London, 1951; ... Sotheby’s, 10 October 1974, lot 39 as 'Horton, Yorkshire', unsold
Bibliography
Malhamdale, online
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
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About this Work
This watercolour, showing the village of Kirkby Malham in Yorkshire, was incorrectly identified as depicting Horton in Ribblesdale until David Hill recognised that it was based on a drawing wrongly attributed to Henry Edridge (1768–1821) (TG1606) rather than a different pencil sketch (TG1633), as had previously been thought by Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak (Hill, 1999, p.58; Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.195). As Hill demonstrated, the original sketch was removed from Girtin’s Book of Drawings and probably dates from 1800, when the artist visited Malhamdale to study the sublime scenery of Gordale Scar (TG1630). The resulting studio watercolour therefore depicts the view from the stone bridge over Kirkby Beck, looking to the church of St Michael the Archangel with its fine Perpendicular east window prominent. However, without the inscription on the original drawing, the incorrect title is likely to have remained, since many of the surrounding buildings have been demolished or transformed. The work is unfortunately known only from a black and white photograph and it is difficult to comment on its attribution with any great confidence. However, even from this source, it is possible to say that many of the evident weaknesses can be put down its faded condition, and the prominent signature to the left, below the characteristic figures, seems entirely authentic.
A significant part of the work’s interest lies in its provenance and, more specifically, its probable link with one of Girtin’s best-known pupils, Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, later Duchess of Sutherland (1765–1839) (Morris, 2002a, pp.256–57). The watercolour was sold in 1948 by George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 5th Duke of Sutherland (1888–1963), and it is a reasonable assumption that he inherited the work through the family from the only ancestor of his who is known to have had any association with Girtin. The evidence is far from overwhelming, but it is possible that the work was commissioned directly by Lady Sutherland, as she was known during Girtin’s lifetime. If so, she may have ordered it as a result of seeing the sketch in the Book of Drawings, as otherwise it is difficult to see how she could have known that an obscure church in Malhamdale might make a worthwhile addition to her collection. Alternatively, it may be that the watercolour is an example of a drawing that Girtin supplied to Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835), who acted on behalf of the artist in his final years in a role somewhere between agent and dealer, and that Gower acquired it through him, probably after the artist’s death. Again the evidence for this is slight, amounting only to the fact that the drawing conforms to the standard size of works that Reynolds valued at seven guineas each in 1801 (Reynolds, Letter, 1801).1 Another watercolour, The Valley of the Tweed, with Melrose Abbey in the Distance (TG1721), may also have come from the collection of Lady Sutherland, and it too has the same dimensions.
A full-scale copy of this work in the collection of Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery (see figure 1) may help, at least partly, to resolve the issue. The best of the full-scale copies of Girtin’s later works were almost certainly made by Reynolds himself, from watercolours that were part of his stock. However, though this example is competent, it has an amateurish feel to it. Could it therefore have been made by Lady Sutherland herself, and might this point to the watercolour being a commission from her teacher?
(?) 1800
Kirkby Malham
TG1606
(?) 1800
Horton in Ribblesdale
TG1633
(?) 1800
Gordale Scar Waterfall
TG1630
1800 - 1801
The Valley of the Tweed, with Melrose Abbey in the Distance
TG1721