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Provenance: By descent to Dr. T.C. Girtin;
By descent to his daughter Mary Barnard;
By descent to her daughter Ethel Sutton;
Purchased by Sabrina, wife of Thomas Girtin, a descendent, in 1935;
Purchased privately 20 July 1996

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Exhibited: London, Agnews, Loan Exhibition of Water-Colour drawings by Thomas Girtin, 1953, no. 92

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Literature: J. Mayne, Thomas Girtin, 1949, illustrated as the frontispiece;
R. Walker, Regency Portraits, 1985, Text Volume, p. 217

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Notes: In his short life Thomas Girtin is credited with helping to bring about a revolution in the art of watercolour painting. Apprenticed to Edward Dayes in 1789, he emerged from the topographical tradition to produce works of great power and drama. In 1813 the art critic John Hassell wrote that Girtin burst 'like a meteor upon the public'. He added that he was 'the projector of the new school of watercolour painting and that it was to his example [that] we are indebted for the work of the ingenious J.M.W. Turner'. Indeed Turner knew Girtin, well having studied with him at Dr. Thomas Monro's academy between 1795 and 1797.

Although Edridge was older than Girtin, they did meet at Dr. Monro's academy. Walker suggests that this portrait was painted in 1796 and Joseph Farington recorded that they both still sketched together at Bushey in 1801. When Girtin died, as a result of an asthma attack in November 1802, Edridge attended the funeral.

This is a particularly sensitive and intimate portrait of Girtin by Henry Edridge. Other portraits by his contemporaries including George Dance and John Opie are in the British Museum, the Whitworth Art Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, London.