Artvee
  • Browse
    • Abstract
    • Figurative
    • Landscape
    • Illustration
    • Posters
    • Religion
    • Mythology
    • Drawings
    • Still Life
    • Animals
    • Botanical
    • Asian Art
  • Books
  • Artists
  • Explore
    • Topics
    • Culture
    • Movements
  • Highlights
  • Collections
  • Galleries
  • Artvee Pro
Login
Artvee
Menu
Thomas Girtin
Thomas Girtin

Thomas Girtin

English, 1775-1802
Follow

Thomas Girtin was an English watercolourist and etcher. A friend and rival of J. M. W. Turner, Girtin played a key role in establishing watercolour as a reputable art form.

Thomas Girtin was born in Southwark, London, the son of a wealthy brushmaker of Huguenot descent. His father died while Thomas was a child, and his mother then married a Mr Vaughan, a pattern-draughtsman. Girtin learnt drawing as a boy (attending classes with Thomas Malton), and was apprenticed to Edward Dayes (1763–1804), a topographical watercolourist. He is believed to have served out his seven-year term, although there are unconfirmed reports of clashes between master and apprentice, and even that Dayes had Girtin imprisoned as a refractory apprentice. Certainly Dayes did not appreciate his pupil's talent, and he was to write dismissively of Girtin after his death.

While a youth, Girtin became friends with J. M. W. Turner and the teenagers were employed to colour prints with watercolours. Girtin exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1794. His architectural and topographical sketches and drawings established his reputation, his use of watercolour for landscapes being such as to give him the credit of having created Romantic watercolour painting. He went on several sketching tours, visiting the north of England, North Wales and the West Country. By 1799, he had acquired influential patrons such as Lady Sutherland, and the art collector Sir George Beaumont. He was the dominant member of the Brothers, a sketching society of professional artists and talented amateurs.

In late 1801 to early 1802, he spent five and a half months in Paris, where he painted watercolours and made a series the pencil sketches which he engraved on his return to London. They were published as Twenty Views in Paris and its Environs after his death. In spring and summer 1802, Girtin produced a panorama of London, the "Eidometropolis", 18 feet high and 108 feet in circumference which was exhibited with success that year. It was notable for its naturalistic treatment of urban light and atmosphere. That November, Girtin died in his painting room; the cause was variously reported as asthma, consumption, or "ossification of the heart." He was buried in the churchyard of St Paul's, Covent Garden in London.

Girtin's early landscapes are akin to 18th-century topographical sketches, but in later years he developed a bolder, more spacious, romantic style, which had a lasting influence on English painting. The scenery of the north encouraged him to create a new watercolour palette of warm browns, slate greys, indigo and purple. He abandoned the practice of undershadowing in grey wash and then adding pastel patches of colour, in favour of broad washes of strong colour, and experimented with the use of pen, brown ink and varnish to add richer tones. Girtin's early death reportedly caused Turner to remark, "Had Tom Girtin lived I should have starved."

96 items

Show 30 50 70
Findlater Castle, Banff

Findlater Castle, Banff (between 1792 and 1793)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Near Sterzing, Tyrol

Near Sterzing, Tyrol (ca. 1795)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
London from Highgate Hill

London from Highgate Hill (1792)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Lincoln Cathedral

Lincoln Cathedral (ca. 1795)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Lichfield Cathedral, Staffordshire

Lichfield Cathedral, Staffordshire (1794)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Layer Marney Hall, Essex

Layer Marney Hall, Essex (ca. 1795)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Kirkstall Abbey from the N.W.

Kirkstall Abbey from the N.W. (ca. 1792)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Kingswear Seen from Dartmouth, Devon

Kingswear Seen from Dartmouth, Devon (ca. 1797)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Jedburgh Abbey, Roxburghshire

Jedburgh Abbey, Roxburghshire (ca. 1793)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Jedburgh Abbey from the South East

Jedburgh Abbey from the South East (1800)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex

Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex (ca. 1794)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Glasgow Cathedral

Glasgow Cathedral (between 1794 and 1795)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Ouse Bridge, York

Ouse Bridge, York (1800)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Eton College from Datchet Road

Eton College from Datchet Road (1790)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Dumbarton Rock and Castle

Dumbarton Rock and Castle (ca. 1793)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Denbigh Castle

Denbigh Castle (ca. 1793)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Country House

Country House (ca. 1797)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Cottage near Newcastle, Northumberland

Cottage near Newcastle, Northumberland (ca. 1797)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Chapel Church, Surrey

Chapel Church, Surrey (ca. 1799)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Chalfont Lodge, Buckinghamshire

Chalfont Lodge, Buckinghamshire

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Carlisle Cathedral, Cumberland, from the South-west

Carlisle Cathedral, Cumberland, from the South-west (ca. 1795)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Arch of Janus, after Piranesi

Arch of Janus, after Piranesi (between 1798 and 1799)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
A View of the Pont de la Tournelle and Notre Dame Taken From the Arsenal

A View of the Pont de la Tournelle and Notre Dame Taken From the Arsenal (1802)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
A Temple in Harewood Park

A Temple in Harewood Park (ca. 1798)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
The Old Bridge in Devon

The Old Bridge in Devon (between 1797 and 1801)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Melrose Abbey, Scotland

Melrose Abbey, Scotland

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
Warkworth Castle, Northumberland

Warkworth Castle, Northumberland (ca. 1798)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
View of Winchelsea, Sussex

View of Winchelsea, Sussex (ca. 1795)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
View of the Pantheon from the Arsenal

View of the Pantheon from the Arsenal (1802)

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
View of Pont au Changes

View of Pont au Changes

Thomas Girtin (English, 1775-1802)
Landscape
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • →

0 Artworks
Follow
Facebook Twitter Pinterest
Favourite
Collect

Standard, JPG, Size:

Download

Max Size, JPG, Size:

Download
License: All public domain files can be freely used for personal and commercial projects. .
Why is this image in the public domain?
  • Terms
  • Privacy
  • Contact us
Artvee.com 2024 All Rights Reserved
We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. By browsing this website, you agree to our use of cookies.
More info Accept
  • Sign in
  • Browse
    • Abstract
    • Figurative
    • Landscape
    • Illustration
    • Posters
    • Religion
    • Mythology
    • Drawings
    • Still Life
    • Animals
    • Botanical
    • Asian Art
  • Artists
  • Books
  • Explore
    • Topics
    • Culture
    • Movements
  • Highlights
  • Collections
  • Galleries
  • Artvee Pro