19thC.  English and American prints

 

Francis Seymour Haden, (1818-1910)

Undoubtedly the two most important British etchers of the nineteenth century are James A. McNeil Whistler and his brother-in-law, Sir Francis Seymour Haden. Haden was one of the first etchers of the time to take his plates outdoors and work directly from nature. He encouraged and influenced his brother-in-law to do the same, so much so that Whistler dedicated his first set of etchings, The French Set, to Haden. When Whistler moved to London in 1859 he was a frequent visitor to Haden's household and produced both etchings and paintings of the family members. Several years later, however, serious rifts became apparent between these two great artists. In Paris in 1867 an argument resulted in Whistler pushing Haden through a plate-glass window. Haden and Whistler never spoke to each other again.

 Sir Francis Seymour Haden's artistic career is all the more remarkable in the fact that he was an 'amateur'. A leading surgeon of obstetrics, he was educated at Derby School, Christ's Hospital and University College, London. He then completed his medical education at the Sorbonne, Paris and in Grenoble. Haden was a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (1857), a consulting surgeon to the Chapel Royal, vice-president of the Obstetrical Society of London and one of the founders of the Royal Hospital for Incurables (1850).

Seymour Haden's first etchings date from 1843 when he visited Italy, but most of his work in this medium does not begin until 1858. In total he created slightly over 250 original etchings, the majority being landscapes. He achieved an international fame in this area and his landscape compositions are distinguished by his mastery of foliage, water and atmospheric effects. Seymour Haden served as president of the Society of Painter-Etchers, was elected a member of the Athenaeum (1891) and was knighted in 1894. He also received an honorary membership from the Institut de France (1905) and the Societe des Artistes Francais. Haden was the author of The Etched Work of Rembrandt (1879) and The Art of the Painter-Etchers (1891).

Image of the etching Description A detail of the image

OUT OF STUDY WINDOW) - 1859
S.17 ( IV / IV )

A scene etched  from a window in Haden's House in Chelsea, toward Brompton The finished state with his signature in the plate bottom right.

On laid paper
10,80 by 25,90 cm on plate border. With 2 cm margins

EGHAM LOCK - 1859 or later
S.21 ( III / X )

An open lock gate spans the river Thames.
The third state as published in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts in 1864.

Title and signature etched in the plate bottom left.

On laid paper
15 by 22,50 cm on plate border. With 2 cm margins

FULHAM - 1859 or later
S.22 ( XII / XII )

The Village of Fulham on the Thames

Title and monogram etched in the plate bottom right.

On nice thick laid paper
11,20 by 28 cm on plate border. With 5 cm margins
 

A WATER MEADOW - 1859
S.23 ( III / V )

The scene is of the Test, flowing near the market town of Romsey, before reaching nearby Southampton Bay.

Pencil signed bottom right.
Collection marque of E.M.Henn on the backside (Lugt 872.b)
Lugt mentions that his stamp was also found on a Whistler litho.

On nice thick woven paper
15,10 by 22,90 cm on plate border. With 5 cm margins

A SUNSET IN IRELAND - 1863
S.47 ( VIII / XIV )

The scene is done in the park of Viscount Hawarden, in the most beautiful part of Tipperary. It shows the Dundrum or Multeen river.

A splendid pencil signed impression on silk like thin Japan paper.
This print went to several states, Haden was playing with the effect of the foreground and wiped it out and rebuilded it over several states. This is similar to the VIII state as published in 'Etudes a l'eau-forte' but I never believed that was done on this special kind of paper. This is probably a proof before the larger edition.

13,90 by 21,50 cm on plate border. With 4 cm margins

RAILWAY ENCROACHMENT (BRENTFORT) - 1864
S.69 ( II / III )

A scene etched at Kew with the railroad extension under construction."Kew, 1864" etched (almost unnoticeable) in the plate
from the portfolio Etudes à l'Eau-forte par Francis Seymour Haden

On woven paper watermarked ...head and Co,
browned from an acid matting in the past.
14 by 21,50 cm on plate border. 3 cm margins

 

THE TOWING PATH - 1864 or later
S.72 ( VI-VIII / XII )

The scene might have been done on the Test at Longparish known from one of his charcoal drawings. Mr. Haden always thought this one of his best plates but that was not always followed by the amateurs. Maybe it was the sentiment for the lady that coloured his appreciation.

A splendid pencil signed impression on laid paper

Again a plate that went trough several states confirming the creative involvement of the artist in this design.

14,10 by 21,50 cm on plate border. With 2 cm margins

LITTLE CALAIS PIER - 1865
S.88 ( IIII / V )

The scene was sketched on the copper on the deck of a Channel steamer as it approached the French port.

A fine pencil signed impression

7,70 by 15,80 cm on plate border. With half cm margin

HORSLEY'S HOUSE AT WILLESLEY - 1865
S.89 ( I / II )

Haden and his family were frequent guests at Whillesley, the country house of his sister Rosamund and here husband John Calcott Horsley, in Cranbrook, Kent.

A fine impression of the first state, with the three slanting rays in the clear part of the sky clearly visible.

17,60 by 25,10 cm on plate border. With 2 cm margins

TWICKENHAM CHURCH - 1865
S.98 ( IV / V )

Twickingham is in Moddlesex, on the North Bank of the Thames.

A fourth state, printed by F.Goulding for publication in Hamerton's 'The Portfolio III' (1872).

A strong impression on thick laid paper.

13,70 by 21,40 cm on plate border. With 5 to 10 cm margin

THE THREE SISTERS 1868 and later
S.119 ( III-IV / V )

A scene etched in and old chase in which is a hunting lodge which belonged to the Duke of Northumberland.

Laid paper, browned from an acid matting in the past.
Pencil signed 'artists proof', label of 'Frederick Keppel' on the back

14,10 by 21,20 cm on plate border.3 cm margins.

A BRIG AT ANCHOR - 1870
S.134 ( V / V )

Etching with drypoint on copper.

According to Harrington this plate was actually etched from nature by moonlight at Deptford.

A finished state as published in 'The Portfolio' VII (1876)

14 by 21 cm on plate border.3 cm margins.

CHALLOW FARM - 1877 and later
S.166 ( VII / VII )

Drypoint on copper
The preliminary graphite drawing which the print reverses
 is in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The print has a vertical tear trough top middle and is backed on a laid paper sheet.

A nice pencil signed impression.

15,80 by 22,60. cm on plate border.1 cm margins.

 

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