Harewood House from the South East, c.1801
With its gathering storm clouds and dramatic evening light, this view of the Harewood landscape appears more "Turneresque" than even Turner's own views of the estate. A sense of vastness is created by the sweeping lines of the hills and the exaggerated, off-centre placement of the House. This is contrasted by the bursts of detail scattered throughout the deer in the foreground, the tree silhouetted against the lake and the sunburst breaking through the clouds-organised to mimic leaps of focus by the eye.
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An enduring legacy
Harewood also became one of Girtin’s most important commissions, producing works that were of the same scale and ambition as oil paintings.
Despite the fact that Girtin’s career was tragically short lived, he died at the age of 27 in 1802, his legacy endures.
Today, on what would have been his 250th birthday, we celebrate the artist who reshaped the future of British landscape painting.
Harewood Bridge, c.1801
In this picture, Girtin uses a limited colour palette and an unusual viewpoint to generate a sense of profundity in a scene that might otherwise have appeared mundane. In the centre of the picture a detailed group of figures can be seen driving a pile into the bed of the river Wharfe. Two observers watch their heroic feats of strength from the bridge. The solidity of the bridge itself, which looms across the scene, is contrasted by the constantly ‑ owing river and movement of the clouds above.
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Fascination of the North
Alongside Girtin’s watercolours of the Harewood estate, the collection also contains a number of other works by the artist, a testament to his popularity by Edward ‘Beau’ Lascelles and later generations of the Lascelles family. A number of these works depict Yorkshire landscapes and landmarks, probably purchased for their personal associations and familiarity.
York Minster from the River Ouse, c.1797
This picture was almost certainly sketched during Girtin’s first trip to Yorkshire in 1796, and later worked up as a final watercolour in his studio. Turner sketched exactly the same view when he visited a year later. Whilst York Minster looms through a hazy sky in the background of this picture, St Mary’s Abbey features to the left and the 14th-century Hospitium to the right, then in use as a boatyard.
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Experience Girtin’s genius
Join us as we celebrate the life and work of Thomas Girtin (1775–1802), one of Britain’s most influential landscape artists on the 250th anniversary of his birth.
Thomas Girtin: A Visionary in Watercolour
