Sunset on the Thames

Francis Seymour Haden, a successful London physician and art collector, was one of the leading figures of the nineteenth-century etching renaissance. He sought to capture the fleeting aspects of nature including atmosphere, weather conditions, and time of day. In this pursuit he worked on Sunset on the Thames through seven states, or changes, of the plate. In the fifth state, shown here, Haden added velvety drypoint lines to strengthen the sunrays and darken the water. Because the delicate drypoint line quickly wears under the pressure of the printing press, impressions of this quality are quite rare.