The Two Asses
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."
Two asses stand at center before trees; blank foreground.
The plates 'Dundrum River' and 'The Two Asses' were originally one; 'The Two Asses' used to be the left portion of the plate.
"Published States: First.-The foreground quite clear...Some impressions of this plate have affixed a penny Inland Revenue receipt stamp, the etching having been presented by the artist, as a form of receipt, to some of the subscribers to the Études à l'eau-forte- a most unhappy choice of subject for the purpose: or was it a sly piece of humour on the part of the artist! This and No. 49 were originally one plate, of which no impression is known to exist, although there are a few instances of the two plates being cut close and mounted together on the same mount, and one or two in which the two plates have been printed close together on the same sheet of paper."
[Source: Harrington, p. 25]
"State I (D1, H1). The left portion of the plate after being etched and divided. Two asses stand before a clump of trees and there is some foul-biting in the upper left corner. The foreground is clear of work."
[Source: Schneiderman, p.129]
Two asses stand at center before trees; blank foreground.
The plates 'Dundrum River' and 'The Two Asses' were originally one; 'The Two Asses' used to be the left portion of the plate.
"Published States: First.-The foreground quite clear...Some impressions of this plate have affixed a penny Inland Revenue receipt stamp, the etching having been presented by the artist, as a form of receipt, to some of the subscribers to the Études à l'eau-forte- a most unhappy choice of subject for the purpose: or was it a sly piece of humour on the part of the artist! This and No. 49 were originally one plate, of which no impression is known to exist, although there are a few instances of the two plates being cut close and mounted together on the same mount, and one or two in which the two plates have been printed close together on the same sheet of paper."
[Source: Harrington, p. 25]
"State I (D1, H1). The left portion of the plate after being etched and divided. Two asses stand before a clump of trees and there is some foul-biting in the upper left corner. The foreground is clear of work."
[Source: Schneiderman, p.129]
Artwork Details
- Title: The Two Asses
- Artist: Sir Francis Seymour Haden (British, London 1818–1910 Bramdean, Hampshire)
- Date: 1863
- Medium: Etching; second state of two (Harrington); second state of two (Schneiderman)
- Dimensions: Sheet: 9 1/8 × 6 11/16 in. (23.1 × 17 cm)
Plate: 6 × 3 3/8 in. (15.2 × 8.5 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
- Object Number: 17.3.307
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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