A Water Meadow
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 Test river, three poplar trees in background at right.
"The scene is of the Test, flowing near the market town of Romsey, before reaching nearby Southampton Bay. A letter from Haden to Frederick Goulding, May 7, 1901, refers to the printing of this plate: 'Water Meadow in proof sent- just about right in every way- with the line of the distant trees a little darker (as in the proof) away from the sun...Send me back all my precious proofs with the tirage ordered of them; and whenever you have nothing to do amuse yourself with the printing, of 'Water Meadow' till you are sick of the sight of it.'
State III (D1, H1). The remaining clump of reeds in the water removed and the water with the reflections of the reeds at the right center is indicated. Additional work on the ground and reeds in the lower left."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 83]
"Published States:First.-The water, with reflections of the reeds, now indicated.This plate and No. 20 [On the Test] were done on the same day; one (No. 21) at noon, the other (No. 20) late in the evening."
[Source: Harrington, p. 11]
View of the Test river, three poplar trees in background at right.
"The scene is of the Test, flowing near the market town of Romsey, before reaching nearby Southampton Bay. A letter from Haden to Frederick Goulding, May 7, 1901, refers to the printing of this plate: 'Water Meadow in proof sent- just about right in every way- with the line of the distant trees a little darker (as in the proof) away from the sun...Send me back all my precious proofs with the tirage ordered of them; and whenever you have nothing to do amuse yourself with the printing, of 'Water Meadow' till you are sick of the sight of it.'
State III (D1, H1). The remaining clump of reeds in the water removed and the water with the reflections of the reeds at the right center is indicated. Additional work on the ground and reeds in the lower left."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 83]
"Published States:First.-The water, with reflections of the reeds, now indicated.This plate and No. 20 [On the Test] were done on the same day; one (No. 21) at noon, the other (No. 20) late in the evening."
[Source: Harrington, p. 11]
Artwork Details
- Title: A Water Meadow
- Artist: Sir Francis Seymour Haden (British, London 1818–1910 Bramdean, Hampshire)
- Date: 1859
- Medium: Etching; first state of two (Harrington); third state of five (Schneiderman)
- Dimensions: Sheet: 9 11/16 × 12 1/4 in. (24.6 × 31.1 cm)
Plate: 5 7/8 × 8 7/8 in. (15 × 22.5 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
- Object Number: 17.3.281
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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