Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) - Loch Lomond c.1795/6

This fascinating watercolour by Girtin was part of a group of about thirty drawings of around this size made for Dr Thomas Monro between 1795-6. Recently two other drawings from this set were sold at Christie's (Old Master and British Drawings and Watercolours Including Works from the Collection of Jean Bonna, 2/7/2019, see lot 178 'Thomas Girtin, Kelso Abbey, Roxburghshire, Scotland' and lot 179 'Thomas Girtin, Corfe, Dorset, with the castle behind'). The academic Dr Greg Smith wrote an accompanying lot note for the Kelso Abbey drawing and he specifically mentions that the two Christie's drawings were once framed together with another work titled 'Loch Lomond'. This is certainly our drawing by Girtin as the Sotheby's sale in 1989 lists exactly the same provenance as the recent Christie's drawings. Our work has furthermore been included in the recently launched Thomas Girtin online catalogue by the Yale Center for British Art as catalogue number TG0873. [1]
 
Interestingly, Smith notes that most of the drawings by Girtin (and others by Turner) painted for Dr Monro were bought by J.M.W. Turner in 1833. Many of these drawings were later included in the Turner Bequest at the Tate Britain. However, some of the works were separated including the two Christie's drawings of Kelso Abbey and Corfe Castle, along with our Loch Lomond watercolour. 
 
Medium: watercolour and pencil on paper, 7.5 x 12 cm, framed.
 
Provenance: Dr Thomas Monro's Collection; Dr Thomas Monro's sale, Christie's, London, 26 June 1833, probably lots 80-83 (as Views and ruins, in colours, on cards (40) by J.M.W. Turner); Mrs C. Morland Agnew, Durrants, Croxley Green, Hertfordshire; Mrs C. Morland Agnew, her sale, 24th March 1933, Christie's lot 18 (part) (£3/13/6, bt. Agnew); with Agnew's, London; Sotheby's Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century British Drawings and Watercolours sale, 9/3/1989, lot 59 £770; Private Collection, England.
 
Literature:
 
[1] Greg Smith, "Loch Lomond", Thomas Girtin (1775–1802): An Online Catalogue, Archive and Introduction to the Artist, (London: Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, 2022), https://www.thomasgirtin.com/collection/catalogue/loch-lomond. 
 
Condition report: generally very good for its age. There is some visble time staining in the sky, please see photographs. Also note, there are light reflections on the frame.