Thomas Girtin 1775-1802

John Allnutt, Clapham Common purchased from the artist;
by descent to Mrs Jane Carr and Miss Ellen Allnutt;
Mr. Osborne, Jane Carr's brother-in-law;
by descent to his great-great grandson;
Anonymous sale Sotheby's London, 13th July 1989, lot 121 (£210,000)

G. Smith, Thomas Girtin: The Art of Watercolour, Exhibition Catalogue, Tate, 2002, p. 164

Support: Girtin has used a sheet of laid paper to support this watercolour, recently this sheet has been laid down onto another sheet of modern hand-made paper. The condition of the sheet is good. There is a small supported tear, lower right. Medium: The watercolour pigment is good, though there is some loss of the indigo in the mixed tint combining this pigment with India red in the rocky hillside and trees which would have softened the tone on these areas. This loss is typical of Girtin's watercolours that have been exposed to light. There is a little rubbing to the surface, centre foot and on the left-hand edge with some slight retouching.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This watercolour, dating from 1801, is worked up from sketches made on Girtin's tour of the North of England in 1800. Girtin had probably stayed with Edward Lascelles at Harewood House in Yorkshire whilst he sketched extensively along the beautiful valley of the Wharfe. On his return to London, Girtin exhibited a large oil on canvas of Bolton Bridge c. 1801 (untraced) at the Royal Academy in a bid to gain election as an Associate. He clearly believed a view of this particular area would secure his place. The area certainly made an impression on Girtin who made at least six finished watercolours of the ruins, as well as five others showing their environs.

The viewpoint for this watercolour, is from the cliff opposite Bolton Abbey, and it shows the view looking north across the River Wharfe towards Simon's Seat. Comparison with the preparatory on the spot sketch (Fig.1), enables us to see the development in Girtin's aesthetic intentions for the final watercolour. In the sketch bold, powerful and darkly coloured washes are used to create dramatic steep, and foreboding hills. The dark form and outline of woodland and hedgerows sprawl across the valley, beneath equally dark coloured rain clouds which descend upon Simon's Seat. In the near foreground, light sand colours and blank areas of white paper are used to depict the transluscent Wharfe which hurries along, hindered by fallen rocks and the diagonal line of the stepping stones which pepper it's path.

In the final watercolour the fluid and expressive manner of the sketch is tamed, the colours are softened and the scene is heightened with close attention to surface details. Retaining the monumentality of this landscape Girtin now extends the composition by including the recession of distant hills to the right and left. Simon's Seat is bathed in sunlight which bursts through the scudding clouds above.  In the near foreground, using a more delicate and varied palette of yellow, green and blue, Girtin flattens the sweep of the now smoothly flowing Wharfe. Lush meadows gently slope to the river's edge, the diagonal line of the stepping stones now barely causing a ripple. Two fishermen and grazing cows also harmoniously share this peaceful location. Finally, the cliffs to the right of the composition, no longer foreboding, rise up steeply as if only to protect and shelter this quiet landscape.

Everything in the finished watercolour is carefully and deliberately expressed. Distinction is clear between Girtin's initial stimulus and the necessary visual metaphors for the patron, the wealthy wine merchant John Allnutt. Until the exciting discovery and record sale of the present work in 1989, the final version was considered to be the unsigned watercolour now in the collection of the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh formerly in the Girtin family collection. The late Thomas Girtin (1912-1994) who owned that watercolour wrote privately of it, 'he took the whole landscape here apart and reassembled it as Nature would have done if she were more artistic,' and having sought the viewpoint himself towards the end of his life, 'the whole is seen from a non-existent high ground.' This is illuminating and illustrates the importance of Girtin's ability to create a sublime landscape which combines topography with grandeur.