Richard Dadd: The Patient, the Artist, and the “Face of Madness”

Abstract

Richard Dadd (1817-1886) was a well-known Victorian artist who murdered his father, compelled by the delusion that a demonic force possessed his father's body. He was one of the first to bypass execution by reason of insanity and spent the remainder of his life in the Bethlem and Broadmoor asylums. Dadd is rare both as a patient and an artist because he left behind nearly a 40-year record of artwork and journals, which constitute a unique medical and psychiatric resource at a time when the ideas on the relationship of facial expression and madness were changing. Sir Charles Bell's (1774-1842) widely accepted views that the "face of madness" is bestial and anatomically distinctive were being challenged by such physicians as Sir Alexander Morison (1779-1866), who was also Dadd's own "alienist" (i.e., psychiatrist). The purpose of this article is to explore the nature and extent of the influence of Bell and Morison on Dadd, which has not been brought out in the existing studies. By a comparative analysis, it will be shown that Dadd may have conveyed a different view in his works that foreshadows subsequent developments that are closer to a modern understanding.

Sir Alexander Morison and The Physiognomy of Mental Diseases: Part 1

“…In 1852 the famous portrait of Morison was painted by Bethlem inmate, Richard Dadd. 40,41 In this, the 'medical gaze' is reversed, and it is now Morison's turn to come under the scrutiny by a patient. Michel Foucault introduced the concept of the 'medical gaze' to describe how from the late 18th century onwards, the trained eye of the doctor reduced patients to objectifi ed medical problems, problems that only the clinician's training could reveal.…”

Statistical Image Properties in Works from the Prinzhorn Collection of Artists with Schizophrenia

“…There is a continuous spectrum from artists who suffered from schizophrenia to patients with schizophrenia who created art ( 7 ). For example, the artist Richard Dadd is suspected to have suffered from schizophrenia ( 8 ). Friedrich Schröder-Sonnenstern (1892–1982) and Adolf Wölfli (1864–1930) are examples of patients who were diagnosed with schizophrenia and started drawing while they spent time in a psychiatric institution; they are now considered important representatives of Outsider Art or Art Brut ( 9 , 10 ).…”