Horsley's Cottages
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 Etching Revival, a movement 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."
Scene of distant cottages; a cow grazes in foreground at left.
"State III (Dc, I impression-touched; Hc). The sportsman at the right removed. Additional drypoint work at right and light work in the foreground and center. With the inscription 'Willesley S. Haden 1865'."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 209]
"Trial Proofs: (c) The sportsman is replaced by 'Willesley S. Haden 1865''"
[Source: Herrington, p. 49]
