Studio: international art (27.1903)

Thomas Girtin

"on the marne: below etched in outline on soft ground by thomas

the bridge at charenton " girtin. aquatinted by j. b. harraden

(From Girtin's " Picturesque Views in Paris and its Environs")

What in others might have been called theft
was a complete victory for his genius. And the
truth of this may be verified by anyone who goes
to the Print Room of the British Museum, and
there studies the apprentice sketches by Girtin
which John Henderson, a good friend and patron,
bequeathed to the nation. These apprentice
sketches are all copies, vigorous copies after Malton,
Canale, and Piranesi; yet within the styles inter-
preted Girtin has made his mark, has left the invari-
able tokens of his presence. It is not often that a
youngcopyist is able thus to transform his imitations.

For the rest, there is no room here for a bio-
graphy of Girtin. A magazine cannot find space
for long articles accompanied by a great many
illustrations; and it is better to cut the text short
in order that Girtin may be able to speak for him-
self in a rich selection from his best works. Be-
sides, any reader who wishes to do so can
find a good account of Girtin's life in the
" Dictionary of National Biography." A still better
account may be enjoyed in Mr. Laurence Binyon's
delightful work on Girtin, which owes much to the
abundant information given by Mr. J. L. Roget, in
the first volume of the well-known "History of the
Old Water-Colour Society." It is useless to
consult the " Encyclopaedia Britannica," for this

work of reference has nothing whatever to tell
you about Girtin, a painter of so much worth that
Turner always delighted to speak of him as "a bril-
liant fellow." And he said, too, one day, in a
moment of unusual self-depreciation, " Had Tom
Girtin lived, I should have starved."

It is time now that I offer my cordial thanks to
the many admirers of Girtin who have given me their
welcome aid, allowing me to see and to borrow
work from their collections. Especially am I
grateful to Mr. George Girtin, the painter's grand-
son, and to Mr. George Tite, whose copy of
Girtin's Paris Views has been most useful in the
preparing of representative illustrations.

A newly-discovered fact is brought to mind
by reference to the Paris Views, and there is
space enough left to record it. Girtin was of
French descent. His origin has recently been
traced back to the Huguenot family of Guertin,
which had its home in the Isle of France, until
the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes caused it to
fly for safety into England. France, then, has a
share in Girtin's fame—a share not unlike that
which England has in the genius of Montaigne,
whose English ancestry is mentioned in the Essay
on Glory.

Walter Shaw Sparrow.

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