Dadd spans across a wide range of motifs and mastered many techniques.


The English Victorian artist Richard Dadd was born in Kent 1818, and became a leading figure in the group of artists called the ‘Clique’. In the final of our series of features on artists who dealt with schizophrenia, we turn our attention to a master painter of the Victorian age named Richard Dadd. Click on the images for larger pictures and bibliographic information where available. But then his life took a dark and unexpected turn… Dadd was born in Chatham, Kent, in 1817 – one of seven children – and was raised by his father, a … 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, Orientalist scenes, and enigmatic genre scenes, rendered with obsessively minuscule detail. The earliest artists considered to have contributed to the genre predate much of Romanticism and the Victorian era. 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, Orientalist scenes, and enigmatic genre scenes, rendered with obsessively minuscule detail. Yet Egypt got inside his head in a way that went beyond art. In the final of our series of features on artists who dealt with schizophrenia, we turn our attention to a master painter of the Victorian age named Richard Dadd. Victorian artist Richard Dadd continued to paint, despite his incarceration for murder. His art is still celebrated. The original text has been reformatted and illustrated for the Victorian Web by Jacqueline Banerjee, who has also added captions and links. Most of the works for which he is best known were created while he was a patient in psychiatric hospitals. Henry Fuseli and William Blake produced works that would be indicative of the later genre even before 1800. Victorian artist Richard Dadd continued to paint, despite his incarceration for murder. Dadd’s designs for ‘Robin Goodfellow’ are curious and unusual, the work of an iconoclast.

… Young and gifted, artist Richard Dadd looked set to be one of the great Victorian artists, with a glittering career ahead of him.

His art is still celebrated. If Dadd was not famous as a “mad” artist he would be best known as a Victorian Orientalist painter. Most of the works for which he is best known were created while he was a patient in Bethlem and Broadmoor hospitals. They were nevertheless highly influential in the development of the Victorian genre known as ‘fairy art’. Artist page for Richard Dadd (1817–1886) 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, Orientalist scenes, and enigmatic genre scenes, rendered with obsessively minuscule detail. 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, Orientalist scenes, and enigmatic genre scenes, rendered with obsessively minuscule detail. This gentleman is most known for his attention to detail down to the minute and minuscule. This gentleman is most known for his attention to detail down to the minute and minuscule. 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, Orientalist scenes, and enigmatic genre scenes, rendered with obsessively minuscule detail. A new exhibition of his works at Watts Gallery in Surrey explores a rare and visionary talent.