Thomas Girtin

By descent in the artist's family until;
Tom Girtin (d. 1994);
sale, London, Sotheby's, 13 November 1997, lot 44;
where acquired by the present owner

Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, Water-Colour Drawings by Thomas Girtin, 1920, no. 39;
London, Royal Academy, Exhibition of British Art circa 1000-1860, 1934, no. 915;
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Twee Eeuwen Engelsche Kunst, 1936, no. 219;
London, Agnew's, 1953, no. 21;
Leeds, City Art Gallery, Early English Water-Colours, 1958, no. 48;
London, Tate Gallery and Arts Council, The Romantic Movement, 1959, no. 723;
London, Royal Academy, The Girtin Collection: Watercolours by Thomas Girtin and other Masters, 1962, no. 165;
London, Royal Academy, Royal Academy of Arts Bicentenary Exhibition, 1968-9, no. 547;
Manchester, Whitworth Art Gallery, Watercolours by Thomas Girtin, January - February 1975, no. 62;
London, Victoria and Albert Museum, Watercolours by Thomas Girtin, March - April 1975, no. 62 (catalogue by F.W. Hawcroft), illustrated pl. 17

F. Gibson, 'A Girtin Collection', The Studio, May 1916, repr. p. 219;
R. Davies, Thomas Girtin's Water Colours, London 1924, pl. 37;
L. Binyon, English Water-colours, London 1933, repr. p. 92;
M. Hardie, 'Thomas Girtin: The technical aspect of his work', The Old Water-Colour Society's Club, vol. II, 1934, p. 5, repr. pl. vi;
R.H. Wilenski, English Painting, London 1964, p. 180, no. 205;
T. Girtin & D. Loshak, The Art of Thomas Girtin, London 1954, no. 346, fig. 54 (as Tynemouth, Northumberland);
H. Lemaître, Le Paysage Anglais à l'Aquarelle 1760-1851, Paris 1955, p. 193;
M. Hardie, Water-colour Painting in Britain, vol. II, London 1967, p. 19;
F. W. Hawcroft, Watercolours by Thomas Girtin, London 1975, p. 47, no. 62, illutrated pl. 17;
D. Hill, Thomas Girtin, Genius in the North, Leeds 1999, p. 13

This watercolour is in very fine condition. The colours are well preserved. There are several insignificant fox-marks but these are small and do not distracted from the composition. The paper is attached to a thicker sheet as a result there are two or three slight ridges on the surface. These are minor and would be reduced if the work was removed from the backing sheet.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This celebrated watercolour, probably a sketchbook page coloured on the spot, descended in the Girtin family until 1994. It demonstrates Thomas Girtin's extraordinary technique: the breadth and control of his watercolour washes, his ability to evoke the essence of a landscape in a few bold forms, and his Romantic vision. The venerable Abbey ruins seem to be rooted into the grey cliff top; two tiny figures on the beach, composed from a few dots, are swallowed up in the grandeur of this sweep of stormy coast.

The watercolour was made in 1801 when Girtin was staying with his patron Lord Mulgrave at Mulgrave Castle, about four miles from Whitby. In 1807 Mulgrave told Joseph Farington that he had found Girtin 'a good-natured, open-dispositioned man' who 'laboured under the symptoms of an Asthma' which was to kill him, aged only twenty-seven, in November 1802. Another fruit of this trip, a large watercolour of Sandsend,¹ the village on the coast below Mulgrave Castle, is dated 1802. Whereas Sandsend is intricate and picturesque, A distant view of Whitby shows Girtin's fascination with the panoramic possibilities of coastal scenes with which he had experimented in his Devon and Dorset watercolours of 1797, and which he explores again here with consummate control of his medium. We are grateful to Susan Morris for her help in cataloguing this lot.

^{1. Yale Center for British Art, New Haven}