Three Sketches of Monkeys (Fragment)
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."
Sketch of a monkey in profile wearing a head dress.
"Trial Proof: (a) 'Kew June 4. 1865.' Only one perfect impression known. Coll. Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo. ( A fragment containing the lowest of the three monkeys. Coll. Harris B. Dick.)
[Source: Harrington, p. 50]
"State I (Da, I impression; Ha). Three sketches of the monkey in various positions have been etched. With the annotation Kew, June 4. 1865"
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 213]
