Scotch Firs, Inveroran
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.
Scotch firs stand on a sloping hill, in the foreground at left; a river valley with trees at mid-distance; a mountain seen in the background.
"State I (Da, Ha). Several Scotch firs stand on the crest of a small hill on the left, which descneds to a river valley with trees. A mountain is in the distance."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 285]
"Trial Proof: (a) A mountain-top is removed."
[Source: Harrington, p. 74]
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