- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Unknown Artist
- Title
-
- Landscape with a Distant Ridge
- Date
- 1800 - 1805
- Medium and Support
- Watercolour on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 11.8 × 39.6 cm, 4 ⅝ × 15 ⅝ in
- Inscription
'23' on the back, lower left
- Object Type
- On-the-spot Colour Sketch
- Subject Terms
- London and Environs; Panoramic Format
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1743
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 417 as 'Panoramic View (probably Hampstead Heath) ... Out-of-door sketch'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in May 2025
Provenance
P & D Colnaghi & Co., 1953; Iolo Aneurin Williams (1890–1962); P & D Colnaghi & Co., 1964; bought from them by Paul Mellon (1907–99), 1970; presented to the Center, 1977
Exhibition History
Reading, 1959, no.60; London, 1964, no.23 as ’Landscape with a Distant Ridge’; New Haven, 1965, no.23
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
A River View with Buildings, Possibly in Yorkshire
Preston Park Museum and Grounds, Stockton-on-Tees
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
A Village Scene, Possibly Finchingfield in Essex
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
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Kelso Abbey, from the River Tweed
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
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, Probably Pinkneys 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
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 Cohen lent the work to the 1875 centenary exhibition organised by the Burlington Fine Arts Club as 'View at Highgate' (London, 1875, no.60).
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About this Work
This panoramic view of a distant ridge was attributed to Girtin by Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak, who in their catalogue of his watercolours suggested that it was an ‘Out-of-door sketch’ and that it ‘probably’ showed Hampstead Heath in north London (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.191). More recently, the work has been reattributed by its owner, the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, to Agostino Aglio the elder (1777–1857), an obscure painter from Cremona in Italy who worked in Britain after arriving in 1803, and the ‘Hampstead Heath’ in the title has been dropped. The latter point certainly makes sense, but why the name of Aglio has been attached to the drawing is not clear. Whilst I do not wish to go back to the unequivocal attribution to Girtin not least as the landscape lacks spatial coherence, the panoramic format of the composition and the work's sparing touch suggest a familiarity at least with Girtin's on-the-spot sketches indicating that it is the work of an amateur artist perhaps even a pupil.
Another view showing what may be a north London scene, which has been called View at Highgate in the past, is in the collection of the National Gallery of Scotland (see figure 1) (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.209). The gallery’s catalogue of British drawings describes it as ‘Circle of Thomas Girtin’ (Baker, 2011, p.133), whilst a note in the Girtin Archive (14), presumably made by Tom Girtin (1913–94), suggests the name of William Pearson (1772–1849). The work is in poor condition, faded and discoloured, but it still seems well below the standard of the work of Pearson, who, though he may have been a follower in the sense that his watercolours were based for a period on Girtin’s style, was a more-than-competent professional artist in his own right (see TG1364 figure 1). What appears to be a signature has been scratched out in the bottom left corner of the drawing, no doubt to make it more saleable as a Girtin. The only possible thing in favour of the watercolour’s attribution to Girtin comes in the form of its ownership by a member of the family, Edward Cohen (1816–87).1 However, Cohen – the son of Girtin’s widow, Mary Ann Borrett (1781–1843), from her second marriage – must have acquired the work on the art market, and there is no evidence that it was inherited through the family.