Mount's Bay
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."
An agitated sea breaking over rocks; a shooner in the distance at left and St. Michael's Mount at right; stormy sky.
"Published States:First.-The crest of the foremost wave is broader than ever towards the right, but broken in the middle and narrow on the left. There is additional work in the trough between the two nearest waves, towards the right."
[Source: Harrington, p. 61]
"State IX (H1). The shaded side of the wave in the lower left made darker with drypoint. Much additional drypoint near the crest and near the curl in the lower center. The lower right considerably changed as previous work removed and the lower right corner generally clear, though the trough is dark."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 247]
An agitated sea breaking over rocks; a shooner in the distance at left and St. Michael's Mount at right; stormy sky.
"Published States:First.-The crest of the foremost wave is broader than ever towards the right, but broken in the middle and narrow on the left. There is additional work in the trough between the two nearest waves, towards the right."
[Source: Harrington, p. 61]
"State IX (H1). The shaded side of the wave in the lower left made darker with drypoint. Much additional drypoint near the crest and near the curl in the lower center. The lower right considerably changed as previous work removed and the lower right corner generally clear, though the trough is dark."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 247]
Artwork Details
- Title: Mount's Bay
- Artist: Sir Francis Seymour Haden (British, London 1818–1910 Bramdean, Hampshire)
- Date: 1868
- Medium: Etching and drypoint; first (final) state (Harrington); ninth state of ten (Schneiderman)
- Dimensions: Sheet: 7 3/8 × 10 3/8 in. (18.7 × 26.3 cm)
Plate: 5 1/2 × 8 1/4 in. (14 × 21 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
- Object Number: 17.3.589
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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