A Brig at Anchor
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 a brig with her bow pointed toward the left; small sailboat at right next to a boat without a sail; moon in sky at center.
"State V (D1, H1). Published in The Portfolio, VII (1876), 116. The sail of the barge is nwo heavily shaded at the top with horizontal lines. The outline of a bending figure has been added to the stern of the barge in drypoint, but because of the shadows the figure is partially obscured. During printing the drypoint work and lightly etched work wear."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 277]
"Published State: First.-The sail of the barge much more heavily shaded in the upper part, horizontal lines having been added. The ripples in the water beyond and behind the barge again inserted. The figure of a man on the extreme right. Published in the Portfolio, 1876, p. 116. This plate was actually etched from nature by moonlight."
[Source: Harrington, p. 73]
View of a brig with her bow pointed toward the left; small sailboat at right next to a boat without a sail; moon in sky at center.
"State V (D1, H1). Published in The Portfolio, VII (1876), 116. The sail of the barge is nwo heavily shaded at the top with horizontal lines. The outline of a bending figure has been added to the stern of the barge in drypoint, but because of the shadows the figure is partially obscured. During printing the drypoint work and lightly etched work wear."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 277]
"Published State: First.-The sail of the barge much more heavily shaded in the upper part, horizontal lines having been added. The ripples in the water beyond and behind the barge again inserted. The figure of a man on the extreme right. Published in the Portfolio, 1876, p. 116. This plate was actually etched from nature by moonlight."
[Source: Harrington, p. 73]
Artwork Details
- Title: A Brig at Anchor
- Artist: Sir Francis Seymour Haden (British, London 1818–1910 Bramdean, Hampshire)
- Date: 1870
- Medium: Etching and drypoint; first (final) state (Harrington); fifth state of six (Schneiderman)
- Dimensions: Sheet: 8 3/4 × 12 3/4 in. (22.3 × 32.4 cm)
Plate: 5 1/2 × 8 1/4 in. (14 × 21 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
- Object Number: 17.3.609
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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