The Little Boat-House
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 cabin on river bank; river at right, trees in background.
"Possibly this is the same boathouse as in Wareham Bridge (N. 156), though from another vantage point.
State I (D1, H1). Several willows, leaning to the right, overshadow a small boathouse and a section of paling. To the right are several boats drawn in outline, in one a man who appears to be pushing on a pole. In the foreground is a reedy, dark pond reflecting the boathouse and paling. In the left distance is a freely drawn house with a fable. The bur is dark and blotchy. With the inscription 'Seymour Haden 1877' (D, l.l.)."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 313]
"Published States: First.-'Seymour Haden 1877.'"
[Source: Harrington, p. 89]
