The Towing Path

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."
A river landscape; a woman walking a small dog walking on the river path in the foreground at right.
"Trial Proofs: (e) Intermediate trial proof. The distant hills are completely shaded, and there is additional work in the sky and the river-banks."
[Source: Harrington, p. 38]
"State IX (He). The distant hills at right of center and at left are completely shaded with vertical strokes, and there is additional work in the sky and on the river banks, especially left center."
[Source: Schneiderman, p. 179]