The Earliest Tree
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."
View of the top of a tree at right, extending across left.
"Harrington states that this print was etched in 1859 from a window of the Star and Garter at Richmond. However, an earlier date seems probable on technical and stylistic grounds, an assumption supported by the inscription on the NYPL impression ['Unpublished-Very Early Study-about 1858 or 9-or earlier.Seymour Hayden'].
State I (H1). The upper branches of a large tree etched in."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 53]
"Published State: First.-Most of the impressions are printed up to the margin of the paper on the left side, and so do not show the plate mark on that side. This plate was etched in 1859 from a window of 'The Star and Garter' at Richmond'."
[Source: Harrington, p.12]
