House of the Smith
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."
To left, a river; to right, a man carrying a small boat on his back and holding a rod; behind, the house of Benjamin Davis Smith; a carriage parked opposite the house with a small dog seated near by.
"Trial Proofs: (a) A man with a coracle on his back near the foreground to the left. Newcastle Emlyn, 17 Aug.,1864. S. Haden"
[Source: Harrington, p. 32]
"State I (Da, I impression; Ha). The scene has been etched in, and in the middle foreground there is a man with a small semispherical boat (a coracle) on his back. There is a long scratch, appearing like a fishing pole, from the man to the Smith's house. With the inscription Newcastle Emlyn 17 Aug.,1864 S. Haden (E,u.r.) and on signboard of house Ben Davis Smith (E,C.)."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 157]
