Live Auction 22308Remastered: Old Masters from the Collection of J.E. Safra - Selling Without Reserve
THOMAS GIRTIN (LONDON 1775-1802)
Lot 4

THOMAS GIRTIN (LONDON 1775-1802)

Dryburgh Abbey, Berwickshire: The South Transept from the Cloister

Closed6 July 2023

Price Realised

GBP 30,240

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THOMAS GIRTIN (LONDON 1775-1802)
Dryburgh Abbey, Berwickshire: The South Transept from the Cloister
pencil and watercolour on paper
8 x 6 3/8 in. (20.5 x 16.2 cm.)

Charles Plumptre Johnson; Sotheby's, London, 22 April 1942, lot 59, where acquired by the following,
Sabina Girtin, and by descent to
Tom Girtin.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 14 July 1994, lot 103, when acquired by the present owner.

Specialist note

Girtin visited the Scottish Borders and the north-east of England in 1796, and this watercolour is probably based on an untraced sketch made on that trip, as another pencil drawing of the west wall of the refectory of Dryburgh survives from that trip (Smith, op.cit., TG1118). Although Girtin made another trip to the Borders in 1800, this watercolour stylistically dates to 1796-7. Dryburgh Abbey was a natural subject for Girtin, with its ruined church and monastic buildings on a wooded loop of the River Tweed providing a highly picturesque landscape. Its owner, the Earl of Buchan (1742-1829) enhanced the site’s idyllic charms through careful but minimal landscaping. He hosted Girtin on his later tour of the area.