133 - Thomas Girtin

Thomas Girtin (British, 1775-1802) A Distant View of Corfe Castle, 1795-1796 watercolor and pencil on paper sheet: 3 1/8 x 4 7/8 in. (8 x 12.4 cm) Property from the Estate of Ambassador J. William Middendorf II, Rhode Island This lot is located in Philadelphia. Framed: 12 3/4 x 13 3/4 x 3/4 in. Work has been window mounted in mat. Two minor spots of soiling at upper right in sky. Some discoloration to sheet at left in sky. Toning at extreme edges of the sheet. Additional images available upon request. Provenance: Thomas Monro. His sale, Christie's, London, sale of June 26, 1833, Lots 80-83 (as Views and ruins, in colours, on cards by Turner). Evelyn Mary Morland Agnew. Her sale, Christie's, London, sale of March 24, 1933, Lot 18 (group lot). Thomas Agnew & Son's, London. Acquired from the above. The Ross Collection, Enniskerry, Ireland. Christies, London, sale of July 2, 2019, Lot 179. Lot Note: This informal sketch depicting the ruins of Corfe Castle in Dorset derives from a group of approximately forty outline drawings by Thomas Girtin that once belonged to his patron, Dr. Thomas Monro (1759–1833). Executed around 1795–96, the watercolors were painted on small sheets of paper and executed in a sketch-like fashion. The precise viewpoint represented here has not been identified, Girtin is not known to have visited Corfe by the probable date of its execution and therefore the composition likely based on the work of another artist. Following Monro’s death, many of the drawings from this group were acquired by J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) and are now preserved in the Turner Bequest at Tate Britain. This sheet, however, was separated from the larger group and reappeared on the art market in 2019, alongside a comparable view of Kelso Abbey (TG0270a). Accessible on the Thomas Girtin online Catalogue Raisonné at https://www.thomasgirtin.com, no. TG0365a.