Description View of a river bank, with a brig anchored at centre; a barge sailing towards the brig from the right; more sailing boats seen in the distance. 1870 Biography Etcher, mezzotint engraver and surgeon (practiced medicine until 1887); b. 1818, London, d. 1910, Bramdean. Studied at Christ's Hospital, University College London, and medical school at the Sorbonne, Paris, and Grenoble. During his stay in Europe, Haden first started sketching while travelling Italy and a number of drawings with Italian scenes, presumably from this period, survive in the collection. Took life drawing classes in Paris believing that drawing would aid precise observation and manual dexterity, skills central to the practice of the surgeon. Haden was introduced to etching by his brother-in-law James McNeill Whistler, whose half-sister (Dasha) Delano Whistler he had married, and became a fanatical propagandist for the medium and a central figure in the so-called 'Etching Revival'. Although an amateur, he held commercial exhibitions of his work, which was widely collected. Haden was a domineering personality and in 1867 Whistler pushed him through a plate-glass window, bringing an abrupt end to their relationship. In 1880, Haden founded and became first president of the Society of Painter-Etchers. He received numerous distinctions and honours, and was knighted in 1894. He also made a fine collection of prints by Rembrandt. Bibliographic references Harrington 1910 / The Engraved Work of Sir Francis Seymour Haden, P.R.E.: an illustrated and descriptive catalogue (147) Schneiderman 1983 / A Catalogue Raisonné of the Prints of Sir Francis Seymour Haden (134.IV) (British Museum) Condition is good. Diffuse foxing.