- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- York: The New Walk on the Banks of the River Ouse
- Date
- 1801
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 26.8 × 53.1 cm, 10 ½ × 20 ⅞ in
- Inscription
‘Girtin 1801’ lower left, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Panoramic Format; River Scenery; Yorkshire View
-
- Collection
- Versions
-
York: The New Walk on the Banks of the Ouse
(TG1046)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1651
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 247ii as 'The New Walk, York (called formerly The Mayor's Walk)'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2017
Provenance
Thomas Calvert Girtin (1801–74); then by descent to George Wyndham Hog Girtin (1835–1911) (lent to London, 1875); by a settlement to his sister, Julia Hog Cooper (née Girtin) (1839–1904); her sale, Davis, Castleton, Sherborne, 2 December 1884, lot 53 as '"Mayors Walk Ouse Bridge" York'; bought by the Museum
Exhibition History
London, 1875, no.67 as'The Mayor's Walk, Ouse Bridge York'; Bristol, 1906, no.62; Chiba, 2002, no.19
Bibliography
Monkhouse, 1890, p.50; Davies, 1924, pl.85; V&A, 1927, p.231 as 'The Mayor's Walk on the Banks of the Ouse, York'; Lambourne and Hamilton, 1980, p.151
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
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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
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About this Work
This is the later of two versions of the view upstream from the west bank of the river Ouse in York that Girtin must originally have sketched on the trip to the northern counties and the Scottish Borders that he undertook in 1796 (the other being TG1046). The watercolour, dated 1801, is therefore one of only a handful of cases where the artist returned to a sketch made on the trip five years previously to create a full-size watercolour for sale on the open market. These include another view of York, showing the minster from the south east, that is dated 1800 (TG1656), the same year as The Village of Jedburgh (TG1725), which likewise reprises an earlier composition. It seems that Girtin, in this case, turned to an earlier sketch as an alternative to the close-up view of the Ouse Bridge that he had painted in 1800 (TG1649), with the New Walk, the tree-lined fashionable promenade route, providing the sixteenth-century bridge with a contrasting semi-rural setting. Framed thus, the bridge, with St William’s Chapel to the left and the tower of St Michael Spurriergate to the right, could, with a little imagination, be viewed as an eye-catcher on a lake in a gentleman’s landscape park, with the sailing boat adding a jaunty note to the sunny scene and figures seen strolling under the shade of the trees.
The watercolour is not one of Girtin’s most memorable efforts, however, though how much of that is down to its condition, which has seen differential fading, is not altogether clear. Thus, the blue used for the sky, presumably ultramarine, has remained, whilst the pigment used to mix the tone for the green foliage and the grey of the clouds has been lost, leaving an overly warm residue lacking in depth. All of this is in contrast to the earlier version of the composition, which is actually in much better condition. It may be that it was treated more carefully and kept out of strong light, but the chances are that it was Girtin’s increasing use of fugitive pigments after 1796–97, employed in multiple thin washes, that caused the problem. Just two unstable pigments, probably blue indigo and yellow gamboge, if used exclusively for the sky’s reflection in the water, the greens of the vegetation and the greys of the clouds, might have been enough to account for much of the deterioration seen in the 1801 watercolour. Despite this, there is no doubt about the attribution of the work to the artist. The prominent date and signature are certainly authentic, and the way that it is missing its lower part is typical of a work that was finished by the artist on its original mount, only for part of the inscription to be lost when the backing was later removed. Changes in the condition of the watercolour and its presentation may complicate comparisons between the two versions of the composition, but there is one difference that can be calculated with some precision. The already slightly panoramic proportions of the earlier version have thus been further extended in this work. This has been achieved by adding to the composition to the left and bringing the far bank closer by minimising the extent of the foreground, losing the prominent figure group in the process. Using works that can be securely dated, it can be shown that Girtin steadily increased the average lateral extent of his compositions year on year, and, as this work demonstrates, he did this by introducing subtle changes to his compositions that make the later works appear more natural, even though their proportions are wider.
1796 - 1797
York: The New Walk on the Banks of the Ouse
TG1046
1800
York Minster from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
TG1656
1800
The Village of Jedburgh
TG1725
1800
The Ouse Bridge, York
TG1649