Barbel Fishing
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 men seated on a boat, man at right holding fishing rod; trees in background; river in foreground; clouds in sky.
"This place and 'The Vicarage' (No. 168B) were one plate, but there are no known impressions before division. BMPD has the two impressions mounted together, which shows that the plate was drawn and etched intact.
State I (D1, H1). A coarsely drawn river scene in the foreground two men are seated in a punt, one has his hat over his eyes, the other watches the fishing pole. On the bank a signboard, behind which is the parapet of a bridge, with a man driving a gig. With the inscription 'Seymour Haden 1877'."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 329]
"Published State: First.-'Seymour Haden 1877.'
[Source: Harrington, p. 93]
Two men seated on a boat, man at right holding fishing rod; trees in background; river in foreground; clouds in sky.
"This place and 'The Vicarage' (No. 168B) were one plate, but there are no known impressions before division. BMPD has the two impressions mounted together, which shows that the plate was drawn and etched intact.
State I (D1, H1). A coarsely drawn river scene in the foreground two men are seated in a punt, one has his hat over his eyes, the other watches the fishing pole. On the bank a signboard, behind which is the parapet of a bridge, with a man driving a gig. With the inscription 'Seymour Haden 1877'."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 329]
"Published State: First.-'Seymour Haden 1877.'
[Source: Harrington, p. 93]
Artwork Details
- Title: Barbel Fishing
- Artist: Sir Francis Seymour Haden (British, London 1818–1910 Bramdean, Hampshire)
- Date: 1877
- Medium: Etching; first (final) state (Harrington); first state of two (Schneiderman)
- Dimensions: Sheet: 11 5/16 in. × 9 in. (28.8 × 22.9 cm)
Plate: 6 1/2 × 4 1/16 in. (16.5 × 10.3 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
- Object Number: 17.3.2079
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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