Editing Richard Dadd

{{Short description|British painter (1817–1886)}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2011}}{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| image              = Richard-Dadd-1817-1886.jpg
| alt                = Photograph of a bearded, middle-aged man. He is seated and holding a paint brush. In front of him is an unfinished, circular painting on an artist's easel.
| caption            = Richard Dadd working on ''Contradiction: Oberon and Titania'' (1854/1858). Photograph by {{ill|Henry Hering (photographer)|fr|Henry Hering|it|Henry Hering|lt=Henry Hering}}.
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|df=y|1817|8|01}}
| birth_place        = [[Chatham, Kent]], England
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|df=y|1886|01|07|1817|08|01}}
| death_place        = [[Broadmoor Hospital]], [[Berkshire]], England
| alma_mater         = 
| occupation         = [[Artist]]
| known_for          = 
| spouse             = 
| parents            = 
| relatives          = 
}}
'''Richard Dadd''' (1 August 1817 – 7 January 1886) was an English painter of the [[Victorian era]], noted for his depictions of [[fairies]] and other supernatural subjects, [[Orientalism|Orientalist]] scenes, and enigmatic [[genre works|genre]] scenes, rendered with obsessively minuscule detail. Most of the works for which he is best known were created while he was a patient in [[Bethlem Royal Hospital|Bethlem]] and [[Broadmoor Hospital|Broadmoor]] hospitals.

==Early life==
Dadd was born at [[Chatham, Kent]], on 1 August 1817, the son of chemist Robert Dadd (1788/9–1843) and Mary Ann (1790–1824), daughter of the shipwright Richard Martin.<ref name="ODNB">{{Cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-37337|doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/37337|title = Richard Dadd (1817–1886)|year = 2004}}</ref> He was educated at [[King's School, Rochester]], where his aptitude for drawing was evident at an early age, leading to his admission to the [[Royal_Academy_of_Arts#Royal_Academy_Schools|Royal Academy Art Schools]] at the age of 20.<ref>Akbar, Arifa, [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/richard-dadd-masterpieces-of-the-asylum-2345818.html "Richard Dadd: Masterpieces of the Asylum"], ''The Independent'', 29 August 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2017.</ref> He was awarded the medal for life drawing in 1840.<ref name="Souter23">Souter 2012, p. 23</ref> With [[William Powell Frith]], [[Augustus Egg]], [[Henry Nelson O'Neil|Henry O'Neil]] and others, he founded [[The Clique (art group)|The Clique]], of which he was generally considered to be the leading talent.<ref>Allderidge 1974, ''Richard Dadd'', p. 13.</ref> He was also trained at [[William Dadson's Academy of Art]].<ref name="Souter23" />

==Career==
[[File:Richard Dadd - Caravanserai at Mylasa in Asia Minor - Google Art Project.jpg|thumbnail|right|''Caravanserai at [[Milas|Mylasa]] in [[Anatolia|Asia Minor]]'' (1845)|260x260px]]
Among his best-known early works are the illustrations he produced for ''The Book of British Ballads'' (1842), and a [[Book frontispiece|frontispiece]] he designed for ''The Kentish Coronal'' (1840).<ref name="Souter23" />

In July 1842, [[Thomas Phillips (mayor)|Sir Thomas Phillips]], the former mayor of Newport, chose Dadd to accompany him as his draughtsman on an expedition through Europe to [[Greece]], [[Turkey]], [[Southern Syria]] and finally [[Egypt]]. In November of that year they spent a gruelling two weeks in Southern Syria, passing from [[Jerusalem]] to [[Jordan]] and returning across the [[Engaddi]] wilderness. Toward the end of December, while travelling up the [[Nile]] by boat, Dadd underwent a dramatic personality change, becoming delusional, increasingly violent, and believing himself to be under the influence of the Egyptian god [[Osiris]]. His condition was initially thought to be [[sunstroke]].<ref name="Allderidge22">Allderidge 1974, ''Richard Dadd'', p. 22.</ref>

===Mental illness and hospitalization===
[[File:The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke.jpg|right|thumb|''[[The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke]]'', oil on canvas, {{convert|26|x|21|in|abbr=on}} (1855–64)|361x361px]]
On his return to England in May 1843, Dadd was diagnosed to be of unsound mind and was taken by his family to recuperate in the rural village of [[Cobham, Kent]]. In August of that year, having become convinced that his father was the [[Devil]] in disguise, Dadd killed him with a knife and fled to France.<ref>Allderidge 1974, ''Richard Dadd'', p. 24.</ref> En route to Paris, Dadd attempted to kill a fellow passenger with a razor but was overpowered and arrested by police. Dadd confessed to killing his father and was returned to England, where he was committed to the criminal department of [[Bethlem Royal Hospital|Bethlem]] psychiatric hospital (also known as Bedlam). There and subsequently at the newly created [[Broadmoor Hospital]], Dadd was cared for in an enlightened manner by Doctors William Wood, [[William Orange (physician)|William Orange]] and Sir [[William Charles Hood]].<ref>Chaney 2006</ref>

Dadd probably had [[paranoid schizophrenia]].<ref>''The Victorians part 4. Dreams and Nightmares'' BBC One, 8 March 2009</ref> Two of his siblings had the condition, while a third had "a private attendant" for unknown reasons.<ref name="Allderidge22" />

In hospital, Dadd was encouraged to continue painting, and in 1852 he created a portrait of one of his doctors, [[Alexander Morison]], which now hangs in the [[Scottish National Portrait Gallery]]. Dadd painted many of his masterpieces in Bethlem and Broadmoor, including ''[[The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke]]'', which he worked on between 1855 and 1864. Dadd was pictured at work on his ''Contradiction: Oberon and Titania'' by the London society photographer {{ill|Henry Hering (photographer)|fr|Henry Hering|it|Henry Hering|lt=Henry Hering}}. Also dating from the 1850s are the 33 watercolour drawings titled ''Sketches to Illustrate the Passions'', which include ''Grief or Sorrow'', ''Love'', and ''Jealousy'', as well as ''Agony-Raving Madness'' and ''Murder''.<ref>Allderidge 1974, ''Richard Dadd'', pp. 28, 106–108.</ref> Like most of his works, these are executed on a small scale and feature protagonists whose eyes are fixed in a peculiar, unfocused stare.<ref>Allderidge 1974, ''Richard Dadd'', p. 28.</ref> Dadd also produced many shipping scenes and landscapes during his hospitalization, such as the ethereal 1861 watercolour ''Port Stragglin''. These are executed with a miniaturist's eye for detail, which belies the fact that they are products of imagination and memory.<ref>Allderidge 1974, ''Richard Dadd'', pp. 31–33.</ref>

==Death==
After 20 years at Bethlem, Dadd was moved to [[Broadmoor Hospital]], a newly built high-security facility in Berkshire. There he remained for the remainder of his life, painting constantly and receiving infrequent visitors; he died on 7 January 1886, "from an extensive disease of the lungs".<ref>Greysmith 1973, p. 73.</ref> A "substantial number" of his works are on display in the Bethlem Royal Hospital Museum.<ref name="ODNB"/>

==Legacy==
[[File:The-halt-in-the-desert-richard-dadd.jpg|thumb|''The Halt in the Desert'', 1845<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Artist's Halt in the Desert|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1987-0411-9|access-date=2022-01-01|website=The British Museum|language=en}}</ref>|260x260px]]
[[Freddie Mercury]] was inspired to write the song '[[Queen II#Black side|The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke]]' based on Dadd's painting, which he had seen at the Tate Gallery. In 2013 [[Neil Gaiman]] wrote an essay about the painting for the magazine ''Intelligent Life'' (now called [[1843 (magazine)|''1843'']]).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.1843magazine.com/content/arts/anonymous/gaiman|title=Neil Gaiman's fantasy painting|last=Gaiman|first=Neil|date=14 June 2013|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=3 January 2020}}</ref>

[[Angela Carter]] wrote ''Come unto these Yellow Sands'', a radio-play based on Dadd's life, first broadcast in 1979.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01bj9qf BBC]</ref>

Canadian author [[R. J. Anderson]] acknowledges Dadd as the basis of her fictional painter Alfred Wrenfield, who figures prominently in her young adult fantasy novel [[Faery Rebels|''Knife'']] (2009).<ref>{{cite web|title=Interview with R.J. Anderson|author=McNeil, Gretchen|url=http://enchantedinkpot.livejournal.com/15627.html|date=10 June 2009|publisher=The Enchanted Inkpot|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927003602/http://enchantedinkpot.livejournal.com/15627.html|archive-date=27 September 2012}} Retrieved 1 December 2009.</ref>

In 1987, a long-lost watercolour by Dadd, ''The Artist's Halt in the Desert'', was discovered by [[Peter Nahum]] on the BBC TV programme ''[[Antiques Roadshow]]''. Made while the artist was incarcerated, it is based on sketches made during his tour of the Middle East, and shows his party encamped by the [[Dead Sea]], with Dadd at the far right.<ref>{{cite web|title=Artist's Halt in the Desert by Moonlight|url=http://www.leicestergalleries.com/art-and-antiques/detail/11795|publisher=[[Peter Nahum]] at the Leicester Galleries|access-date=1 October 2007|archive-date=24 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080324210153/http://www.leicestergalleries.com/art-and-antiques/detail/11795|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was later sold for £100,000 to the [[British Museum]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Richard Dadd, The Halt in the Desert, a watercolour|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pd/r/dadd,_the_halt_in_the_desert.aspx|work=Explore/Highlights|publisher=The British Museum|access-date=28 February 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228210914/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pd/r/dadd,_the_halt_in_the_desert.aspx|archive-date=28 February 2014}}</ref>

[[Loreena McKennitt]] features Dadd's 1862 painting "Bacchanalian Scene" on the cover of her 1987 Christmas CD ''[[To Drive the Cold Winter Away]]''.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

[[Terry Pratchett]] included ''The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke'' in his 2003 [[Discworld]] novel ''[[The Wee Free Men]]''. Tiffany, the protagonist, finds it in a book of fairy-tales and later escapes from a dream set within the picture. In the author's note, Pratchett describes the painting and gives a brief but sympathetic summary of Dadd's personal history and struggle with mental illness.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

== Gallery ==
<gallery widths="210" heights="170" class="center">
File:Richard Dadd - Augustus Egg - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Augustus Leopold Egg|Augustus Egg]]'', between 1838 and 1840
File:"Portrait of a Young Man" by Richard Dadd.jpg|''Portrait of a Young Man'', 1853
File:Titania Sleeping.jpg|''Titania Sleeping''
File:Bacchanalian Scene by Richard Dadd.jpg|''Bacchanalian Scene'', 1862
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Fairy painting]]
* [[List of Orientalist artists]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* Allderidge, Patricia (1974). ''Richard Dadd''. New York and London: St. Martin's Press/Academy Editions.
* Allderidge, Patricia (1974). ''The Late Richard Dadd 1817–1886''. London: The Tate Gallery.
* Chaney, Edward (2006). 'Egypt in England and America: The Cultural Memorials of Religion, Royalty and Religion', ''Sites of Exchange: European Crossroads and Faultlines'', eds. M. Ascari and A. Corrado. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi.
* Chaney, Edward (2006b). 'Freudian Egypt', ''The London Magazine'' (April/May 2006), pp.&nbsp;62–69.
* Greysmith, David (1973). ''Richard Dadd: The Rock and Castle of Seclusion''. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.
*{{cite book|last=Souter, Nick and Tessa|title=The Illustration Handbook: A guide to the world's greatest illustrators|year=2012|publisher=Oceana|isbn=9781845734732}}
* Tromans, Nicholas (2011). ''Richard Dadd: the Artist and the Asylum''. London: The Tate Gallery.
* {{cite web
| author=Marc Demarest
| date = 24 May 2007
| title = The Richard Dadd Page
| url = http://www.noumenal.com/marc/dadd/
}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Richard Dadd}}
{{wikisource author}}
* [https://www.bible.gallery/art/richard-dadd/mercy-david-spareth-sauls-life/824/information "Mercy - David Spareth Saul’s Life by Richard Dadd"] at Bible.Gallery
* [http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ArtistWorks?cgroupid=999999961&artistid=130&tabview=bio Biography at Tate online] by Patricia H. Allderidge
* [https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34722937 "Richard Dadd: The art of a 'criminal lunatic' murderer"], ''BBC News Magazine''
* [https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.184.6.465-a22 Dadd's portrait] of [[Alexander Morison]]
* [http://www.berkshirerecordoffice.org.uk/albums/broadmoor/richard-dadd/ Richard Dadd] at ''The Berkshire Record''
* [http://www.popsubculture.com/pop/bio_project/richard_dadd.html Biography] at PopSubculture.com
* {{LCAuth|n50041566|Richard Dadd|2|}}
*''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Tm8sFMykgdgC&dq=The%20Book%20of%20British%20Ballads&pg=PP9 The Book of British Ballads]'' (1842), illustrated by Dadd
*''[https://books.google.com/books?id=5zBkAAAAcAAJ&dq=The%20Kentish%20Coronal&pg=PR2 The Kentish Coronal]'' (1840), frontispiece by Dadd

{{Fairies}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dadd, Richard}}
[[Category:1817 births]]
[[Category:1886 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century English painters]]
[[Category:English male painters]]
[[Category:British fantasy artists]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung disease]]
[[Category:Deaths in mental institutions]]
[[Category:English murderers]]
[[Category:English Orientalist painters]]
[[Category:History of mental health in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:People acquitted by reason of insanity]]
[[Category:Patricides]]
[[Category:People from Chatham, Kent]]
[[Category:People with schizophrenia]]
[[Category:English illustrators]]
[[Category:People detained at Broadmoor Hospital]]
[[Category:19th-century English male artists]]