- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
- Date
- 1797 - 1798
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 33 × 54.2 cm, 13 × 21 ⅜ in
- Object Type
- Unfinished Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Castle Ruins; Durham and Northumberland; River Scenery
-
- Collection
-
- Private Collection, Norfolk
- (I-E-14)
- Versions
-
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
(TG1093)
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet (TG1711)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1094
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 350 as 'Warkworth Castle ... re-sketched and coloured on the spot'; '1800'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001 and April 2022
Provenance
Sir James Thomas Knowles (1831–1908); his posthumous sale, Christie's, 28 May 1908, lot 262 as 'Landscape Studies, 5'; bought by J. Palser & Sons, £16 (stock no.16493); bought by Sir Hickman Bacon (1855–1945), 22 October 1908, 30 gns; then by descent
Exhibition History
London, 1946, no.94; Arts Council, 1946, no.79; Boston, 1948, no.137; Agnew’s, 1953a, no.31; Norwich, 1955, no.36; Geneva, 1955, no.71; Manchester, 1975, no.63; Nottingham, 1988, no.31
Bibliography
Mayne, 1949, p.106; Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.83
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
There is some uncertainty about both the date of this watercolour and its relationship with a pencil drawing of the same composition that Girtin almost certainly made on his first independent tour, to the northern counties and the Scottish Borders in 1796 (TG1093). Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak believed that the artist revisited Warkworth in 1800 and that the subject of the 1796 outline was ‘re-sketched and coloured on the spot’, arguing that it was one of five drawings all made from life in 1800 that were later sold from the collection of Sir James Knowles (1831–1908) (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.182). Aside from the fact that there is no other evidence to suggest that Girtin returned to Warkworth, the theory adds an unnecessary complicating factor into the story of Girtin’s touring activities, which generally seem to have been much less extensive than earlier writers on the artist claimed. In this case, it would have been particularly uncharacteristic of Girtin to return to a subject for which he already had a perfectly usable sketch, which, according to Girtin and Loshak, provided the basis for a large studio watercolour they date to 1798 (TG1711). The conclusion that this Warkworth view was not sketched on the spot in 1800 does not, in itself, establish the status of the watercolour, though it does narrow it down to two possibilities. Namely, either the work was coloured on the spot, but in 1796, and was thus the source for the finished studio watercolour that I date to 1800–1801, or (and this is the view that I favour) it dates from later and is actually an unfinished version of the same composition, in which case it was indeed based on the earlier pencil drawing. Such are the uncertain, shifting boundaries between Girtin’s work in the field and his studio work that I would be perfectly happy to be persuaded to adopt the former option. However, the fact that this work is on the same scale as numerous finished studio works of 1799–1800, and much larger therefore than the on-the-spot colour sketches, currently tips the balance in the direction of it being an unfinished composition that was abandoned for some reason.
It is not surprising that Girtin sought to make more than one version of this composition since the view he adopted for his on-the-spot pencil sketch was well calculated to display the defensive might of Warkworth Castle. Looking up from the banks of the river Coquet, the late fourteenth-century Great Tower rises up, leading to the Hall Range and the distinctive minaret-like form of the remains of the Little Stair Tower, with the river acting as a natural moat.
(?) 1796
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
TG1093
1800 - 1801
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
TG1711