Swanage Bay
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."
A panorama of Swanage Bay during the beginning of a storm; at right, a wide road and people seen at a distance; rows of buildings seen in perspective, at right.
"Swanage Bay, on the east side of the Isle of Purbeck, is on the English Channel.
State III (H1). The storm cloud in the upper left has been strengthened and horizontal shading fills the lower left corner."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 323]
"Published State: First.-The storm-cloud on the left has been again introduced and the vacant patch of foreground has been shaded."
[Source: Harrington, p. 87]
A panorama of Swanage Bay during the beginning of a storm; at right, a wide road and people seen at a distance; rows of buildings seen in perspective, at right.
"Swanage Bay, on the east side of the Isle of Purbeck, is on the English Channel.
State III (H1). The storm cloud in the upper left has been strengthened and horizontal shading fills the lower left corner."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 323]
"Published State: First.-The storm-cloud on the left has been again introduced and the vacant patch of foreground has been shaded."
[Source: Harrington, p. 87]
Artwork Details
- Title: Swanage Bay
- Artist: Sir Francis Seymour Haden (British, London 1818–1910 Bramdean, Hampshire)
- Date: 1877
- Medium: Etching; first (final) state (Harrington); third state of four (Schneiderman)
- Dimensions: Sheet: 5 1/2 in. × 8 in. (14 × 20.3 cm)
Plate: 2 13/16 × 6 3/16 in. (7.1 × 15.7 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
- Object Number: 17.3.2086
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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