- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- York Minster, from the South West
- Date
- 1796 - 1797
- Medium and Support
- Watercolour and bodycolour on paper
- Dimensions
- 45.7 × 40.6 cm, 18 × 16 in
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Gothic Architecture: Cathedral View; Yorkshire View
-
- Collection
- Versions
-
York Minster, from the South West
(TG1047)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1048
- Description Source(s)
- Auction Catalogue and Colour Photograph
Provenance
Sotheby's, 19 March 1958, lot 36; bought by Spink's, £260; Spink & Son Ltd, London; bought by Philip Cunliffe-Lister, 1st Earl of Swinton (1884–1972) and Mary Constance, Countess of Swinton (d.1974), 1959; then by descent
Exhibition History
(?) Royal Academy, London, 1797, no.486, no.489, no.499 or no.726 as ’View of York’; Spink’s, London, 1959, catalogue untraced; London, 1963a, no.26
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
Revisions & Feedback
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About this Work
This view of York Minster from the south west, with the river Ouse to the left and Lendal Tower in the centre, is one of two versions of a composition that has been the subject of considerable speculation about its origin (the other being TG1047) (Hill, 1996, p.146). Neither of the works was included in Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak’s catalogue (Girtin and Loshak, 1954) as they only reappeared on the art market after its publication, but when they did so Tom Girtin (1913–94) sought to show that they were worked up from a pencil drawing by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) (see TG1047 figure 1). Noting the similarity of the composition to a drawing that came from the collection of Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833), together with small watercolour on card (see TG1047 figure 2), which may also be by Turner, Tom concluded that his ancestor had been encouraged by his patron to use Turner’s drawing as the basis for a large composition (TG1047) and that this work was a second version of that outcome (Girtin Archive, 40A). However, there is a much simpler, less convoluted explanation for the striking similarities between the Girtin and Turner compositions. Thus, as David Hill has argued, Turner appears to have seen Girtin’s northern sketches prior to his own northern tour in 1797 and, as in the case of the view Durham Cathedral and Castle (see TG1075 figure 1), he adopted Girtin’s viewpoint when he visited the city (Hill, 1996, pp.4–5). Two other York views sketched by Turner, York: Pavement, with the Market Cross and All Saints’ Church (see TG1655 figure 1) and York: The Minster Seen from the River, with St Mary’s Abbey (see TG1049 figure 1), also appear to have been inspired by Girtin’s choice of viewpoint, and I can see no reason why this was not the case with this view of the minster – it is just that Girtin’s pencil drawing has either not been identified or not survived.
The original version of this text used when the site went online in 2022 was drafted from this poor quality black and white image and consequently I was uncertain about the attribution of the work. Much better colour images have since been made available to me, though not of a quality that could be used here, and although I still think that the work is not of a particularly high standard, as demonstrated by the formulaic treatment of the foliage and some insecure perspective in the Minster which leaves the structure looking strangely insubstantial, the attribution to Girtin seems much more secure. Indeed, it may be that it was this watercolour and not the other slightly larger version (TG1047) that appeared at the Royal Academy in 1797 as 'View of York’ (nos. 486, 489, 499 and 726). The evidence for this is admittedly thin, but not without some significance. Joseph Farington noted in his diary that the ‘Academy I went to & looked over pictures – Girtin’s drawings 18 Inches 4 guineas’ (Farington, Diary, 4 June 1797). This drawing does indeed measure 18 in high (45.7 cm) and whilst this is hardly conclusive it does indicate the price that Girtin was able to command for a framed watercolour at this date. Interestingly, the work is not marked as for sale in the exhibition catalogue which might suggest that it had been lent by its first owner were it not for the fact that Girtin followed the common practice at this time by which artists rarely signalled that they were using the exhibition as a marketplace, preferring to suggest, no doubt erroneously at times, that they had had success in finding patrons for their work (Smith, 2001, p.197).
1796 - 1797
York Minster, from the South West
TG1047
1796 - 1797
York Minster, from the South West
TG1047
1797 - 1798
York Minster, from the Ouse, with St Mary’s Abbey
TG1049
1796 - 1797
York Minster, from the South West
TG1047