Sub Tegmine...
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."
Man in top hat and jacket laying on side under trees; two women seated in background.
'The first line of Virgil's 'Eclogues', and the last line of his 'Georgics', contain the phrase, "sub tegmine patulae fagi" ("under the covert of spreading beech"). This print is of the same scene and was etched the same day as Whistler's 'Greenwich Pensioner'.
State II (Da, 3 impressions; Ha). The plate rebitten and drypoint work added.'
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 61]
'Trial Proofs: (a) The plate measures 5 7/8 in. w. by 8 7/8 in h., "F.S. Haden, Greenwich Park, 1859."[*] Three impressions only. Coll. Lenox Library, New York.'
[Source: Harrington, p. ]
*inscription barely legible on this impression
