The technique of etching into soft wax ground is similar to drawing, and clearly reveals the artist’s hand at work. In France artists such as Felix Buhot and Edgar Degas started experimenting with inks, papers and printing processes around 1870. They drew inspiration from the work of Rembrandt, who also printed his engravings on a variety of papers. In the United Kingdom etching was revitalised by artists such as Sir Francis Seymour Haden, James McNeill Whistler and the art critic Philip Gilbert Hamerton. Interest in etchings also peaked in the United States and the Netherlands in this period.
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