A Sunset in Ireland
Sir Francis Seymour Haden (1818-1910), A Sunset in Ireland, 1863, drypoint, signed in pencil lower right margin [also signed in the plate lower left]. Reference: Schneiderman 47, Harrington 51. Schneiderman state xiii/xiv; Harrington ii/ii. On laid paper, in very good condition (very slight light or mat stain visible well outside of platemark), with wide margins, 5 1/4 x 8 1/2, the sheet 9 x 12 1/2 inches, archival mounting with window mat.
A superb impression of this famed image, with extensive burr, in black ink.
A Sunset in Ireland is surely Haden’s greatest masterpiece, and in this impression it’s clear why: the composition works superbly, and the drypoint burr achieves an astonishing velvet, atmospheric, quality. In this state, before some added drypoint at the left bank and before the cancellation of the plate, we see the definitive structure and composition of the print.
Haden depicts a scene of tranquillity and calm in the estate of Viscount Hawarden, in Tipperary. Dr. Haden was a fisherman as well as a surgeon and artist, and so this was surely a river scene (the river is the Dundrum or Malteen) with special meaning to him.