The Cotman Collection | 132

Cotmania. Vol. VI. 1930-31

Archive: SDK Sydney Decimus Kitson Archive
Reference Number: SDK/1/2/1/6
Page:


  • Description

    'English Water-Colours': Article from The Times, 5.3.31

    'English Water-Colours': Article from The Times, 5.3.31

    Date: 1930-31

  • Transcription

    ENGLISH WATER-COLOURS

    This year's annual exhibition of
    selected water-colour drawings in aid of
    the Artists' General Benevolent Institution at Messrs. Agnew's, 43. Old Bond-
    street, will be memorable for its impressive
    collection of 46 works by Girtin. One
    had not supposed that so many fine
    examples of the short-lived friend of
    Turner—Girt in died at the age of 27—
    could have been got together. They are
    hung in the last of the three bays into
    which the gallery has been divided by
    screens, so that tho effect is that the
    whole English water-colour school, which
    is represented down to the present day,
    pays homage to Girtin. Whether by acci­dent or design, the 20 Turners in the next
    bay, though they include some beautiful
    things, are not. so to speak, "important,"
    as if it were felt that on this occasion the
    more famous men would prefer to pay
    deference to the young genius of whom he
    said that if Tom Girtin had lived he
    himself would have starved. As much
    upon its arrangement as upon its con­tents are the organizers of this exhibition
    to be congratulated.

    That from many of the Girtins the blues
    have flown only adds to the weight of the
    collection. Some of the drawings are
    actually in monochrome, and since the
    others were modelled in monochrome
    there is no serious alteration of values by
    the loss of tinting. It would not be pos­sible to make a collection of works in this
    medium by any other English artist that
    would speak so surely of genius. Over
    and above Girtin's technical powers, his
    instinct for composition, certainty of
    drawing, and rightness of tone, he leaves
    the impression of a high order of mind—
    grave, reflective, and unhurried, giving
    dignity to his subjects, not by idealiza­tion, but by sober truth in the statement
    of their essentials.

    It is difficult, indeed, to pick and choose
    in such a collection. "Peterborough
    Cathedral" might he named as a miracle
    of architectural drawing—not in the least
    like an architect's drawing—and it is
    impossible to resist the appeal of such
    compositions as "Harewood Bridge,"
    "Durham Cathedral" (1799), "44 Guis-
    borough Priory," and " Ilkley "; but, as
    illustrations of Girtin's power of lending
    nobility to simple material, one would be
    inclined to choose two drawings in par­ticular : "Valle Crucis Abbey " (138) and
    "The Tithe Barn, Abbotsbury." It is in
    these drawings that Girt in comes nearest
    to Cotman. but, with equal sureness and
    sense of weight—the subtle indication of
    settlement in "The Tithe Barn," for
    instance—the drawing is more sensitive,
    and there is a deeper and less "decorative " reading of the subjects.

    In this exhibition everything comes
    second to Girtin, though there are many
    things to excite interest and pleasure.
    What one feels in looking at Turner after
    Girtin is his advance in atmospheric
    qualities, his power of modelling the
    elements, as in "The Splugen," or
    realizing solid features with touches of
    pure colour, as in the farther hill in "The
    Valley of St. Gothard." It is, perhaps,
    for his implied solidity while concerned
    ostensibly with light and colour that
    Turner is most remarkable—for the
    amount of forgotten knowledge behind his
    "visions."' There are several very fine
    examples of J. R. Cozens, "On the Strada
    Nomentana. Rome,"' being remarkable for
    grace, and "A Grotto in the Campagna,"
    for structural realization by the passage of
    light ; there are some delicious Gainsboroughs— "The Shepherd." a grey,
    woody subject, in particular—and Cox and
    De VVint are well represented ; but, it is
    felt appropriately, the retrospective col-
    ­lection is kept a little down, in homage to
    Girtin and to give value to the contem-
    ­porary drawings, which are distinguished
    by remarkable courage and catholicity in
    selection.

    'The Times'
    5.3.'31.

'English Water-Colours': Article from *The Times*, 5.3.31