Lot 101: Richard Dadd (1817-1886)

Portrait of a young man
signed and dated 'R^d. Dadd 1860' (lower right, in tresses of the hair)
oil on board
15 3/4 x 11 7/8 in. (40 x 30.2 cm.)

Mrs Shawcross, The Lakeland's, Rivington (according to an old, indistinct, inscription on the reverse).
The Earl of Rocksavage.
with Ivor Braka, London.

This picture presents an intriguing puzzle. It has the appearance of a genuine portrait painted from life, and both the hair and dress suggest a considerable degree of informality. However, the date 1860 (if correct) would mean that it was painted in Bethlem Hospital, where Dadd was interred 1844-64 after the murder of his father in 1843. Bethlem was subject to a programme of reform inaugurated by Dr Charles Hood; both he and Dadd's physician Dr Edward Thomas Monro can be credited for encouraging Dadd's return to work.

However, at Bethlem Dadd was confined within the restrictive male criminal wing, and it seems highly unlikely that he would have had access to a female sitter, particularly one clad in the revealing garment shown here. One explanation is that the face was painted from life and the rest from imagination or memory. Possibly the entire composition was done from the memory of an earlier work, such as the conventionally pretty Portrait of a girl in a white dress, holding a rose (1841; see P. Allderidge, Richard Dadd, London, Tate, 1974, p. 59, no. 56). It appears that Dadd did occasionally use male models for 'female' sitters, and this would explain the rather heavily modelled face.

In 1864 Dadd was transferred from Bethlem to the less restrictive environment of Broadmoor, where he might have had access to female sitters. He is also known to have painted at least one portrait there in a realist style, whereas his two traced oil portraits from Bethlem are more stylised. However, unless we have misread an '1866' date, we can only surmise that this picture presents a forerunner of that candid style.

A great deal remains unknown about Dadd's life and work in both hospitals. The present picture must be regarded as evidence of this, and will remain a mystery until more is resolved.

We are grateful to Patricia Allderidge for her help in preparing this catalogue entry.

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