Kensington Gardens (small plate)

Description

Seymour Standing Under a Tree
1859
Etching
Second state of three (Kennedy 31)
Museum purchase made possible by the Jean Paul Slusser Memorial Fund, 1988/2.22
Sir Francis Seymour Haden
Great Britain, 1818–1910
Kensington Gardens
1859
Etching and drypoint
Museum purchase, 1990/2.36
Whistler’s brother-in-law, Seymour Haden, a surgeon and amateur printmaker and collector, encouraged him to etch from nature, and they often sketched together. On excursions to the parks in and around London, they worked directly on their prepared etchings plates, which they later printed on the press in Haden’s house. Whistler’s portrait of Haden’s son Seymour and Haden’s etching of Kensington Gardens were most likely executed during such an excursion. While similarities between the subject matter and etching styles of the two men are readily apparent, the delicacy of Whistler’s work shows that with his lighter touch he may already at this point have surpassed his mentor. This early work also shows his characteristic sharp focus on specific elements of the image and the rendering of others in a more summary manner, creating a more dynamic work than does Haden’s very even rendering of the scene.