Girtin produced a second set of hand-coloured impressions of his etchings, which were carefully mounted and sold by John Girtin to the dedicatee of the publication, George Capel-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex (1757–1839), for £50 (see figure 1). The two sets have been the cause of considerable confusion, but, following the discovery of new evidence about John Girtin’s role in the project, it has been possible to distinguish their very different functions (Smith, 2017–18, pp.32–35). The set sold to the earl is thus complete, and it is carefully rendered and presented so as to resemble Girtin’s finished watercolours. In contrast, the group of eighteen hand-coloured etchings, which were once owned by Francis Russell, 7th Duke of Bedford (1788–1861), are very much working drawings; indeed, in some cases they have been cut down, presumably to disguise their careless treatment whilst in the studios of the four men who were employed by the Girtin brothers to add aquatint to the plates. The utilitarian function of the latter can also be distinguished by the fact that, in addition to providing instructions to the professional aquatinter regarding the distribution of light and shade, they often include Girtin’s amendments, though these have been kept to a minimum in this case, with just a few figures added.
Another watercolour version of this composition (see figure 2) has been included in a number of exhibitions as an autograph sketch by Girtin for Picturesque Views in Paris plate one, though in all probability it is a copy after the print, possibly by John Henderson (1764–1843) (Exhibitions: Scarborough, 1950, no.27; Agnew’s, 1953a, no.11; Dijon, 1957, no.68). In a copy of the catalogue to the 1953 Agnew’s exhibition of the artist’s work, Thomas Girtin (1874–1960), a descendant, added a note describing the work as a ‘dud’, suggesting that it is ‘on a paper later than Girtin’, and he did not subsequently include it in the catalogue he produced with David Loshak (Girtin Archive, 41; Girtin and Loshak, 1954). The authenticity of the work was also questioned by Paul Oppé (1878–1957). A pen and ink and sepia wash study of this title and size was sold in 1946, though it was not illustrated (Exhibitions: Christie’s, 5 July 1946, lot 36).
1802
The Tuileries Palace and the Pont Royal, Taken from the Quai d’Orsay: Pencil Study for Plate One of ‘Picturesque Views in Paris’
TG1862a
1802
The Tuileries Palace and the Pont Royal, Taken from the Quai d’Orsay: Pencil Study for Plate One of ‘Picturesque Views in Paris’
TG1862a
About this Work
This view of the Tuileries Palace and the Pont Royal, looking across the river Seine from the Quai d’Orsay, was coloured by Girtin working over his own soft-ground etching (see print after TG1862a), which in turn reproduced the artist’s on-the-spot pencil drawing made in early 1802 (TG1862a). He added the washes for the guidance of Frederick Christian Lewis (1779–1856), who was employed to aquatint the artist’s plate, fleshing out the lines of the etching with tones that approximate to those of a monochrome sketch. The completed print (see the print after, above) was published a couple of weeks after the artist’s death as plate one of Twenty of the Most Picturesque Views in Paris and Its Environs by his widow, Mary Ann Girtin (1781–1843), and his brother, John Girtin (1773–1821), the latter of whom, in addition to financing the project, took over the final stages of its production. The twenty prints were finally published together in an edition of around 130, with the etchings selling for four guineas, the aquatints for five guineas and a set of proof impressions six guineas (Hardie, 1966–68, vol.2, p.8; Smith, 2017–18, pp.32–35). The large prints were very much a luxury product, so it is somewhat surprising that the list of subscribers includes, in addition to many of the best known of Girtin’s patrons, a significant number of artists, amongst which are the names of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), Sir William Beechey (1753–1839), Benjamin West (1738–1820), John Hoppner (1758–1810) and Henry Edridge (1768–1821) as well as many of Girtin’s fellow watercolourists, such as John Varley (1778–1842) and John Glover (1767–1849) (Chancery, Income and Expenses, 1804).1