A Selection of Twenty of the Most Picturesque Views in Paris: The Water Works at Marli, and St. Germain en Laye seen in the distance (1803): Art, History and Details

A Selection of Twenty of the Most Picturesque Views in Paris: The Water Works at Marli, and St. Germain en Laye seen in the distance (1803) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Thomas Girtin (British, 1775–1802); J.B. Harraden (British).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Girtin, along with his rival J. M. W. Turner, extended the technical possibilities of watercolor and in doing so demonstrated that watercolors could have the visual impact of oils. His reduction of landscape to simple and monumental forms, his panoramic compositions, and his sensitivity to natural effects, such as cloud formations, influenced subsequent generations of watercolor painters. Anxious to take advantage of the Peace of Amiens (October 1, 1801), Girtin went to Paris to see the artistic treasures brought back from Italy by Napoleon and installed in the Louvre. He made graphite sketches of the city and its environs and upon his return to London made etchings based on his drawings. Girtin died of tuberculosis shortly thereafter, and the series was published by his widow and brother.

Object facts

• Title: A Selection of Twenty of the Most Picturesque Views in Paris: The Water Works at Marli, and St. Germain en Laye seen in the distance
• Date: 1803
• Creator attribution: Thomas Girtin (British, 1775–1802); J.B. Harraden (British)
• Culture: England, 19th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: softground etching and aquatint printed in brown, hand-colored with watercolor
• Dimensions: Sheet: 45.3 x 63.2 cm (17 13/16 x 24 7/8 in.); Platemark: 22.7 x 54.5 cm (8 15/16 x 21 7/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Etching
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 2006.226

Collection credit

Gift of John Bonebrake

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.