Portrait of Francis Seymour Haden, No. II (While Etching)

Haden's self-portrait, in a pose normally associated with men of letters, is telling in its emphasis on the artist as intellectual. With the etching needle poised above the plate like a pen above paper, he shows himself in the act of creation. He merely suggests the chemical reaction of biting the plate with a beaker of acid at his elbow. Haden faulted artists who relied too heavily on elaborately bitten plates for their images, believing they crossed the line between fine art and mere craft.