Swanage Bay
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."
A panorama of Swanage Bay during the beginning of a storm; to right, a wide road and people seen at a distance; rows of buildings seen in perspective, to left. Counterproof.
"Swanage Bay, on the east side of the Isle of Purbeck, is on the English Channel.
State I (Da, Ha). A panorama of Swanage Bay and approaching storm has been lightly etched. In the right foreground rising diagonally to the left a large road upon which are several figures in the middle right; there are trees and a house at the right center."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 323]
"Trial Proofs: (a) The plate measures 8 in. w., 5 4/8 in. h., and the effect is that of a gathering storm. 'Seymour Haden 1877'."
[Source: Harrington, p. 87]
