Francis Seymour Haden and the etching revival.

Francis Seymour Haden was an English Surgeon, best known as an etcher and the foremost exponent of the etching revival in England. He became president of the  Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers. He studied and collected the etched work of Rembrandt and collaborated with his brother-in-law James McNiell Whistler, a major force in the etching revival. Haden worked in both drypoint etching and mezzotint.

Francis Seymour Haden 1818-1910. A Salmon River No II. Mezzotint with Drypoint.1880

Francis Seymour Haden 1818-1910. Kenarth. Etching.1864.




PRINTMAKING TERMS, TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS USED IN THIS EXHIBITION

TECHNIQUES

AQUATINT
Aquatint creates areas of tone. The artist applies a layer of fine grains of resin to the plate which is then fused by heat. When the plate is immersed in acid bath, the acid 'bites' small rings around each grain, and these hold enough ink to give the effect of a watercolor wash when the plate is printed. Excellent examples of the process can be seen in the work of Thomas and William Daniell.

ETCHING
The artist covers the plate with a hard acid-resistant ground, made of a mixture of waxes, gums and resins. Lines of the design are drawn on the ground with an etching needle or stylus. When the plate is immersed in the acid bath, the acid eats or 'bites' into the exposed areas of the plate, producing lines which will hold the ink. Examples of the process can be seen in the work of Joseph Stannard,  Francis Seymour Haden and Thomas Creswick.

SOFT-GROUND ETCHING
The etcher draws the composition on a piece of thin paper placed over a soft resin ground. When the paper is removed the resin ground adheres to the paper where the drawing instrument was placed, leaving the metal exposed.When the plate is immersed in the acid bath the plate is 'bitten' and a granular effect is produced. The effect when printed has the character of a tonal graphite drawing. An excellent example of this process can be seen in the work of John Sell Cotman.

LINE ENGRAVING

Of all these processes line engraving is the most laborious and costly, but was used because of the high-quality images it produces. Lines are incised on a copper or steel plate using a sharp tool called a burin , and a burnisher can be used to rub down and lighten areas and remove or correct unwanted lines. Unlike etching no acid is used to create the printable lines. Fine examples of this method are found in the engraved work of Richard Wilson and J M W Turner.

LITHOGRAPH
The artist draws  the design directly onto a very flat slab of limetstone, known as a 'stone'. Drawing is done using a special lithographic crayon. The stone is treated chemically so that ink, when rolled on to
the stone, adheres only where the drawing was made. As with all printing here, the print is made using a high-pressure press. Fine examples of lithography are found in the work of Thomas Shotter Boys, Edward Lear and James Duffield Harding.

MEZZOTINT
Technically a drypoint method. The design is created by a cross-hatching technique and a tool called a 'rocker'. This produces small points known as a 'burr'. When rocked over the entire plate it will print as an area of continuous darkness. The engraver removes burr to create areas of light using a burnisher and polishers. Examples of mezzotint can be found in the work of David Lucas (for John Constable) ,Francis Seymour Haden and Thomas Goff Lupton.



© MICHAEL THORNTON-SMITH  2011

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