A new exhibition at the Royal Academy is set to redefine the legacy of Victorian artist Richard Dadd, known predominantly for the tragic circumstances of his life rather than his artistic output. Titled 'Richard Dadd: Beyond Bedlam', the show marks the first major retrospective of his work in over five decades, aiming to disentangle the artist from the pervasive narrative of his mental illness and subsequent committal to Bethlem hospital.
Dadd, once a promising talent at the Royal Academy, saw his career tragically cut short in 1843 when he murdered his father during a severe psychotic episode. This act led to his confinement in Bethlem hospital, where he spent the remaining 43 years of his life. Despite his institutionalisation, Dadd continued to paint, producing an extraordinary body of work that included allegorical portraits, satirical pieces, biblical scenes, and highly detailed fantasies, such as the iconic 'The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke', painted between 1855 and 1864.
Co-curator Sylvie Broussine explains that the exhibition seeks to present Dadd's career as a unified whole, challenging the reductive 'before and after' narrative often applied to his work. By omitting his medical records and referring to his illness and crime only briefly, the exhibition places the emphasis firmly on Dadd the artist. Broussine notes that while his style evolved, this is common among artists, and many of his core subjects, such as his enduring fascination with Shakespeare, remained consistent throughout his life.
The exhibition highlights how Dadd's early inclination towards imaginative subjects, evident in works like 'Titania Sleeping' (exhibited in 1841), predates his mental health struggles. This suggests that his retreat into fantastical realms, often interpreted solely as a symptom of detachment, was also a deliberate artistic choice. However, author Jennifer Higgie, whose novel 'Bedlam' coincides with the exhibition, acknowledges that the intensity and intricate detail in later works like 'The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke' do suggest a 'certain mania'.
Dadd's unique vision has long captivated the creative world, inspiring works such as Angela Carter's 1979 radio play 'Come Unto These Yellow Sands' and Queen’s 1974 song 'The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke'. Nicholas Tromans, a leading Dadd authority and co-curator, has previously cautioned against viewing Dadd's art primarily as a diagnostic tool. While he distances himself from the discredited mid-20th-century approach of analysing art for psychological insights, Tromans does observe a consistent lack of interaction between figures in Dadd's paintings, which he suggests might reflect Dadd's known social isolation.