NON-SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
(British Drawings and Prints of Two Centuries – Plus a Few Precursors)
(British Drawings and Prints of Two Centuries – Plus a Few Precursors)
- Laroon, The Quarrel
- Hollar, Glastoniensis
- Hollar, Landscape with Herdsmen
- Smith, Mr. Will: Richards
- Hogarth, Southwark Fair
- Smith, The Virgin Mary
- Hogarth, Midnight Modern
- Robinson, Banquet Piece
- att. to Vanderbank, Senesino
- Beauclerk, Street Musicians
- Haward, Mrs. Siddons
- Gillray, Comfort to the Corns
- Cheesman, The Seamstress
- Anonymous, Diamond
- Rowlandson, Gaffers
- Bartolozzi, Miss Farren
- Anonymous, Beatrice Fishing
- Say, Miss Mellon
- Rowlandson, The Poacher
- Smith, Narcissa
- Cruikshank, The Cholic
- Vendramini, Strawberrys, Scarlet
- Cruikshank, A Catalanian PicNic
- Morland, Peasants Resting
- Cruikshank, Sales by Auction!
- Daniell, Joseph Haydn
- Williams, Leap Year
- Finch, In the Park
- Cruikshank, A Consultation
- Anonymous, Duck Shooting
- Heath, A Pleasant Draught
- O’Neill, The Mill
- Cruikshank, Hint to the Blind
- Craig, Trees
- Heath, Blessing of Cheap Cider
- Calvert, The Brook
- Calvert, Cottage and Trees
- Lisle, I’d be a butterfly
- Palmer, Early Plowman
- Leitch, Shepherd
- Whistler, La Vieille aux Loques
- Haden, A Water Meadow
- Whistler, The Brothers
- Cameron, The Palace
- Strang, The Cause of the Poor
- Detmold, Long-Eared Bat
- Detmold, Phoenix
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11. Francis Haward (1759-1799) after Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) Mrs. Siddons in the Character of the Tragic Muse |
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(click on image to print)
Mrs. Siddons in the Character of the Tragic Muse
Stipple engraving, 1784-7, 637 x 454 mm., Hamilton p. 131 iii/iii, LeBlanc 12. Very fine impression in brown-black on laid paper with the full plate margins, the plate mark showing in places; repaired tears in the plate margins, creases across the text area and in the plate margins, the image untouched. A painting – and a print – in the Grand Style, using elements of antique sculpture (tragedy as both pity and terror), ornate dress and jewelry and a throne set on a billowing cloud. Haward’s contribution is a virtuoso performance of stipple engraving, a technique not usually applied with such heroic aims and means. Sarah Kemble Siddons (1755-1831) was the greatest tragic actress of her time, known especially for her portrayal of Shakespeare’s Lady MacBeth. Viewers of the time would have associated the image both with that role and with Melpomene, the muse of tragedy. The painting, now in the Huntington Art Gallery in San Marino, California, was, in its time, called “the greatest female portrait in the world.” Haward’s engraving does it justice.
