Egham (Egham, sur la Tamise)
Sir Francis Seymour Haden British
Not on view
Seymour Haden was the unlikely combination of a surgeon and an etcher. Although he pursued a very successful medical career, he is mostly remembered for his etched work as well as for his writings on etching. He was one of a group of artists, including James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) and Alphonse Legros (1837–1911), whose passionate interest in the medium led to the so-called etching revival, a period that lasted well into the twentieth century. The extolling of etching for its inherent spontaneous qualities reached its pinnacle during this time. While the line of the etching needle, Haden wrote, was "free, expressive, full of vivacity," that of the burin was "cold, constrained, uninteresting," and "without identity."
A river landscape with trees on the right bank and two boats in the foreground; three birds in sky at left. View of Egham on the Thames.
"Published States: Third.-There are only eight birds in the sky. Much of the bur that existed in Trial Proof (b) is removed, and the shadow in the boat to the right is reduced in size."
"State X. (D3,H3). Published in Études à l'eau-forte (N XII). Much of the bur removed or wearing and there are varying amounts of work in the shadow on stern of right punt; burnishing marks in this area are noticeable on several impressions."
[Schneiderman, p. 73]
