Sunset on the Thames (Coucher de Soleil sur la Tamise)
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."
View of the Thames river; sunset in background at center; sailboat in middleground at center.
"Published States: First.-The white spot filled in. The two rays on the left have a distinct white interval between them."
[Source: Harrington, p. 45]
"State IV (D1, H1). Published in Études à l'eau-forte (No. V). Additional work on the distant shoreline, buildings, water (which makes it darker) and sky- the two ray on the left have a wide interval between them."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 199]
