Kensington Gardens
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."
Trees and their shadows cast across the center foreground; hedges in middleground; building (the home of Lord Harrintgon) in background.
'State V: (D2, H2). Published in Études à l'eau-forte (N. III). Shadow on left tree on path made darker with additional work. Additional horizontal strokes in the shadows at lower right, especially near and through the annotations at lower center and right.'
[Schneiderman, p. 57]
'Second.-There is more dry-point on the sward, and the horiztonal shadows are added on the second path. Published in 'Études à l'eau-forte (No. III.), under the title, 'Lord Harrington's House from Kensington Gardens.' Exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1860.'
[Source: Harrington, p.6 ]
