DOI Heft:
Nr. 232 (June 1915)
DOI Artikel:Gibson, Frank F.: A Girtin Collection
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43461#0337
A Girtin Collection
A GIRTIN COLLECTION. BY
FRANK GIBSON.
It is always pleasant to hear that good
examples of a Master’s work are not only handed
down but also remain for some time in the posses-
sion of his descendants. This is rarely the case,
and it is an agreeable fact that, after the lapse of
more than a century, many important and unique
drawings by Thomas Girtin have come down to
his great-grandson, the present Mr. Thomas Girtin,
to which inheritance he, and his father before him,
have, from time to time, added a goodly number
by acquiring characteristic examples of their great
ancestor’s art when the occasion occurred. And
in order to give their collection a representative
character of that period of water-colour painting,
they have also collected some very good specimens
of Girtin’s contemporaries, viz. J. R. Cozens,
Hearne, Rooker, Malton, Turner, Cotman, Cox,
De Wint, Edridge, Francia, and others.
Mr. Girtin not only possesses rare and excep-
tional examples of the great artist’s pictures, but
his collection consists also of all the phases of his
distinguished ancestor’s work, from which the illus-
trations for this article are chosen.
One of the earliest drawings here is The Temple
of Clitumnus, after the engraving by Piranesi, most
likely a souvenir of Girtin’s student days and one
of those historical evenings when he and Turner,
for half-a-crown each and their supper, met at
Dr. Monro’s or Mr. Henderson’s house, to make
copies of the works of their predecessors, Turner
choosing the drawings by J. R. Cozens and Hearne,
and Girtin those of Malton, Canaletti, and Piranesi.
This particular copy after Piranesi’s engraving,
reproduced here, shows the strength and accuracy
of the young artist’s draughtsmanship. But the
colouring of the drawing, with its bluish shadows
and russet lights, is of course Girtin’s own. He
has made slight alterations in the original com-
position, showing more sky and less foreground,
but keeps the character of Piranesi’s subject
perfectly.
The Savoy Ruins, another early drawing, is
also associated with Turner. This view of the
“ DUMBARTON ROCK ”
LVIII. No. 232.—June 1916
PEN AND WASH DRAWING BY THOMAS GIRTIN
213
A GIRTIN COLLECTION. BY
FRANK GIBSON.
It is always pleasant to hear that good
examples of a Master’s work are not only handed
down but also remain for some time in the posses-
sion of his descendants. This is rarely the case,
and it is an agreeable fact that, after the lapse of
more than a century, many important and unique
drawings by Thomas Girtin have come down to
his great-grandson, the present Mr. Thomas Girtin,
to which inheritance he, and his father before him,
have, from time to time, added a goodly number
by acquiring characteristic examples of their great
ancestor’s art when the occasion occurred. And
in order to give their collection a representative
character of that period of water-colour painting,
they have also collected some very good specimens
of Girtin’s contemporaries, viz. J. R. Cozens,
Hearne, Rooker, Malton, Turner, Cotman, Cox,
De Wint, Edridge, Francia, and others.
Mr. Girtin not only possesses rare and excep-
tional examples of the great artist’s pictures, but
his collection consists also of all the phases of his
distinguished ancestor’s work, from which the illus-
trations for this article are chosen.
One of the earliest drawings here is The Temple
of Clitumnus, after the engraving by Piranesi, most
likely a souvenir of Girtin’s student days and one
of those historical evenings when he and Turner,
for half-a-crown each and their supper, met at
Dr. Monro’s or Mr. Henderson’s house, to make
copies of the works of their predecessors, Turner
choosing the drawings by J. R. Cozens and Hearne,
and Girtin those of Malton, Canaletti, and Piranesi.
This particular copy after Piranesi’s engraving,
reproduced here, shows the strength and accuracy
of the young artist’s draughtsmanship. But the
colouring of the drawing, with its bluish shadows
and russet lights, is of course Girtin’s own. He
has made slight alterations in the original com-
position, showing more sky and less foreground,
but keeps the character of Piranesi’s subject
perfectly.
The Savoy Ruins, another early drawing, is
also associated with Turner. This view of the
“ DUMBARTON ROCK ”
LVIII. No. 232.—June 1916
PEN AND WASH DRAWING BY THOMAS GIRTIN
213