Windsor

Francis Seymour Haden

Etched toward the end of Haden's career, this large etching was done in 1878 in twelve states. It was based on a graphite drawing that Haden had done, on which he commented (in graphite): "Done on a railway bridge in bodily fear of train." (None came).

Cataloger Richard Schneiderman notes in the raisonné of Haden's prints: "A creek banked with trees and shrubs, used by the Eton boys for swimming, leads into the Thames at Windsor; the tower and older parts of the castle in the left distance."

Windsor Castle was built in the 11th century in the English county of Berkshire and has been occupied by British royalty since that time, starting with Henry I. Originally designed to protect the Norman dominance around the outskirts of London and oversee a strategically important part of the River Thames. Windsor Castle was built as a motte-and-bailey, with three wards surrounding a central mound.

Sir Francis Seymour Haden was born in Chelsea, London, England on September 16, 1818. Haden was amateur printmaker in the true sense of the word. A surgeon by profession, he chose etching as a hobby, but soon developed his technique to a high artistic level. Haden was in the heart of the Etching Revival in England and was a founder of the Royal Society of Painter Etchers (now the Royal Society of Painters Printmakers) and helped popularize the medium of etching in England, France, and the United States.

Although Haden made his first etchings around 1845, it was not until twelve years later that he began to seriously create in the medium. At first he worked closely with great American born artist James Abbot McNeil Whistler, his brother-in-law, but eventually their relationship disintegrated as their aesthetics took divergent paths. Haden was at his best when producing romantic, serene landscapes in either pure etching or etching combined with mezzotint.

Sir Francis Seymour Haden died in Bramdean, Hampshire, England on June 1, 1910.