Breaking up of the "Agamemnon," No. 2
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."
Sunset in background, at leftt; the 'Agamemnon' at center; a wrecking barge with smoke emanating and smaller boats with men in front of 'Agamemnon' ship in middle ground, at right; a dock, boats, and a view of Greenwich in foreground.
"Harrington dated this plate to 1886, probably because of the malformed 'o'. However, Goulding's day books record that he began proving the 'mezzotint plate, The Breaking Up of the Agamemnon, in 1884'. [Note:The '0' of the date has the appearance of a 6 as Haden often drew the bottom of 6 small, whereas his '0' often was large and has a looping start extending above the circle. A repetition of the earlier plate of this subject (No. 133).
State IX (H3). The clouds again reworked so that they are broken up and appear mottled."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 371]
"Published States: Third.-The clouds are all broken up and present a mottled appearance."
[Source: Harrington, p. 113]
Sunset in background, at leftt; the 'Agamemnon' at center; a wrecking barge with smoke emanating and smaller boats with men in front of 'Agamemnon' ship in middle ground, at right; a dock, boats, and a view of Greenwich in foreground.
"Harrington dated this plate to 1886, probably because of the malformed 'o'. However, Goulding's day books record that he began proving the 'mezzotint plate, The Breaking Up of the Agamemnon, in 1884'. [Note:The '0' of the date has the appearance of a 6 as Haden often drew the bottom of 6 small, whereas his '0' often was large and has a looping start extending above the circle. A repetition of the earlier plate of this subject (No. 133).
State IX (H3). The clouds again reworked so that they are broken up and appear mottled."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 371]
"Published States: Third.-The clouds are all broken up and present a mottled appearance."
[Source: Harrington, p. 113]
Artwork Details
- Title: Breaking up of the "Agamemnon," No. 2
- Artist: Sir Francis Seymour Haden (British, London 1818–1910 Bramdean, Hampshire)
- Date: 1880
- Medium: Etching and mezzotint; third state of three (Harrington); ninth state of nine (Schniederman)
- Dimensions: Sheet: 12 3/16 × 20 1/4 in. (31 × 51.5 cm)
Plate: 10 1/4 × 18 7/8 in. (26 × 48 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
- Object Number: 17.3.2112
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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