- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Kirkstall Abbey, from the Canal, Evening
- Date
- 1802
- Medium and Support
- Graphite, watercolour and bodycolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 31.5 × 52 cm, 12 ⅜ × 20 ½ in
- Inscription
‘T Girtin 1802’ lower left, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Docks and Canals; Monastic Ruins; Yorkshire View
-
- Collection
- Versions
-
Kirkstall Abbey, with a Canal Barge
(TG1632)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1637
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 448ii as 'Kirkstall Abbey'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001 and 2002
Provenance
Thomas Calvert Girtin (1801–74) (by 1852); then by descent to George Wyndham Hog Girtin (1835–1911) (lent to London, 1871; London, 1875); then by descent to Thomas Girtin (1874–1960); given to Tom Girtin (1913–94), c.1938; his sale, Sotheby’s, 14 November 1991, lot 101; bought by Thos. Agnew & Sons, £75,000; Sir John Basil Zochonis (1929–2013)
Exhibition History
London, 1871, no.109; London, 1875, no.91; Norwich, 1903, no.54; London, 1912, no.40; Cambridge, 1920, no.40; Agnew’s, 1931, no.118; Agnew’s, 1953a, no.52; Sheffield, 1953, no.56; London, 1962a, no.153; Reading, 1969, no.52; Manchester, 1975, no.92 as ’Kirkstall Abbey, Yorkshire’; Agnew’s, 1992, no.29; Gowing, 1995, p.261 Harewood, 1999, no.14 as ’Kirkstall Abbey with a canal barge, evening’; London, 2002, no.180 as ’Kirkstall Abbey, Yorkshire, Evening’
Bibliography
Sparrow, 1902, p.99; Mayne, 1949, pl.4; Hardie, 1966–68, vol.2, pl.9; Grigson, 1975, p.76; Sitch, 2008, p.11
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 fine late watercolour, showing Kirkstall Abbey from the Leeds–Liverpool canal, was executed from a small pencil sketch that Girtin probably made in the summer of 1800 (TG1632). The watercolour belies the idea that Girtin sought out unpopulated landscapes late in his career, since all of the dated works from 1802 are centred on towns, villages or the activities of people, and this is particularly true of this, the last of the artist’s three mature views of the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey (the others being TG1635 and TG1636). As David Hill has described, the ruins are shown from the canal near the locks at Kirkstall Forge, where a barge has been tied up for the night (Hill, 1999, p.28). This is a working, human-made landscape, therefore, as well as being the picturesque setting for an ivy-clad ruin, and the artist shows a boat being cleaned down and horses being led away along the tow path to be fed. The figure on the barge, it should be noted, is recycled from Durham Cathedral and Castle (TG1074), where he is shown repairing the weir. Just as The Leeds Guide of 1806 saw no impropriety in listing the iron forge of Messrs Butler and Beecroft at Kirkstall as worthy of the attention of travellers, so Girtin, in keeping with Charles Taylor (1756–1823), author of The Landscape Magazine, likewise regarded a ‘canal’ and a working ‘towing-path’ as suitable for a ‘picturesque’ view (Taylor, 1793, p.65). A well-managed evening light from the north west draws out a mood of pensive calm, suited equally to labourers at the end of a working day and a monument damaged, but not broken, by the ravages of time. As Hill has again stated, the choice of an evening effect has a particular significance, even though it has been exacerbated by the work’s changed condition, which has seen the greens of the foliage turn to a warm earth tone. The canal view, he notes, thus forms a ‘pendant’ with the earlier Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Bridge, Morning (TG1636), ‘contrasting morning with evening, the river with the canal, and dark skies with light’ (Hill, 1999, p.30).
All of this is in stark contrast to Girtin’s earlier depictions of Kirkstall Abbey, which were made for his first patron, the antiquarian and amateur artist James Moore (1762–99), whose simple outline drawings provided the basis for two watercolours (TG0144 and TG0147) around 1792–93. The first of these works actually shows the ruins from a similar angle, but the antiquarian was careful to exclude anything that distracted from the sense that they were located in a timeless, unspoilt rural setting. In contrast, visiting the location for himself, probably whilst he was staying at the home of his patron Edward Lascelles (1764–1814) at nearby Harewood House in 1800, Girtin was free to adopt the viewpoints that he thought might make saleable commodities. Thus, although Lascelles may have commissioned a number of local views from the artist, he did not own any of his Kirkstall subjects, and it seems that they were all made for sale on the open market. This work, which must have been one of the last watercolours Girtin painted, may even have remained unsold at his death, however, as its first known owner was his son, Thomas Calvert Girtin (1801–74). Thus, although Thomas Calvert bought the majority of his father’s works in his collection later, it may be that in this case he inherited the watercolour, perhaps from his mother, Mary Ann Girtin (1781–1843), or even his grandfather, Phineas Borrett (1756–1843).
A particularly feeble small-scale copy of the work is located in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (WA1934.140).
(?) 1800
Kirkstall Abbey, with a Canal Barge
TG1632
1800
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Hill
TG1635
1800 - 1801
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Bridge, Morning
TG1636
1799
Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
TG1074
1800 - 1801
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Bridge, Morning
TG1636
1792 - 1793
Kirkstall Abbey, from the North West
TG0144
1792 - 1793
Kirkstall Abbey, from the South East
TG0147