Cotmania. Vol. VII. 1931-2

[July - crossed out] June 20, 1931.
Visited the National Gallery of Ireland with Tho[ma]s Bodkin (Director) & Osbert Sitwell. There is a fairly good show of watercolours, including 3 or 4 Girtins. One late Cotman 'Namur' (c. 12 x 18) showing the river, with buildings on each side & a weir, done from a Harriott drawing. (No. 28 in the Geldart album of tracings, 'From the Bridge over the Sambre at Namur'.)
[Note in margin] There is also a 'North Gate', & a 'South Gate', Yarmouth, by M. A. Rooker.

June 22, 1931. Visited the new Art Gallery at Belfast. There are 2 large sepia landscapes by 'Tho.' Girtin. The largest, 12½ x 20, is a view of Conway Castle – this is, I think, an[d] early John Varley. It is fine, but misses perfection. The other, rather smaller, is of the Cow Tower at Norwich – almost certainly the work of John Thirtle. Both drawings were presented by J. F. Johnson (once Curator) in 1896.
Then there is a small w[ater]c[olour] of an avenue by 'J. S. Cotman', presented in 1930 by Walter Rowley, the pen-name of a poet on a local paper. It has no connection with J.S.C. or the Norwich School. I think Samuel had it about 2 years ago.
{Pencil sketch of trees and a house by Kitson}
[Note in margin] Dublin. George Petrie, 1799-1866, P.R.H.A. did some good early work, a fine Cotman-like landscape: some good sepias, afterwards became a sentimentalist.
A good large J. Varley, Knaresborough 1801.