Undoubtedly, Richard Dudd is one of the prominent figures in the world of art. His biography still causes a lot of controversy and discussion among critics of painting and admirers of the fine art of past masters.
The story of a crazy artist
Everyone who is familiar with at least a small part of the works of this master, is also aware of how Richard Dudd went his life. The biography of this person is shocking and delights at the same time, but, nevertheless, deserves attention. It is worth noting that the field of art, which will be discussed later, for a long time remained inaccessible to a wide audience. Only at the end of the last century did the whole world learn about the history of the great artist, which made it possible to draw public attention to the problem of realizing creative potential by people whose mental health was shaken in the same way as it happened with Richard Dudd.
Today, leading specialized medical institutions of the corresponding profile have opened workshops where patients can freely draw, sculpt, and cut wood. Actual are even auctions, during which art lovers are sold unique painting masterpieces, hand-written by mentally unhealthy people.
Pictures of a mentally ill person
Commercial success, by the way, was waiting for the paintings created by Richard Dudd. “Crazy genius” - this is what his contemporaries said about him. They also speak of him today. The master spent most of his life in a clinic for the mentally ill. During his lifetime, his talent could not be appreciated, his disease was considered the main obstacle. But after several decades, the creative method of Richard Dadd found his fans. The paintings of this greatest artist are an object of desire for collectors and connoisseurs of painting, so today each of his works costs truly fabulous money.
Many have heard about the word "bedlam", but no one thought about what kind of story is associated with this name. In fact, Bedlam called the Bethlehem Hospital for the mentally ill and mentally unbalanced people. This place is located opposite the legendary London Tower. Since the 18th century, all mentally unstable citizens were brought to this place, and at the beginning of the next century, in 1815, there was already a full-fledged medical hospital for people in need of a special psychological microclimate and a kind of treatment.
Bedlam in the life of Richard Dudd
Once in 1844, the legendary Richard Dudd joined the ranks of insane patients. “The masterful swing of a fabulous lumberjack” (running a little ahead) is one of his most famous and popular works, appreciated by experts in the field of cultural studies, painting and art, was embodied on the canvas here, in the clinic. In 1844, the artist was taken to the department where people who had committed criminal offenses were treated.
Richard Dudd came here after his arrest. Law enforcement officers detained him not far from the French capital at the moment when the artist attacked one of the passengers of the stagecoach. During the interrogation, the criminal replied that he intended to visit Vienna and kill the emperor of Austria. He also confessed to the murder of his own father. It turns out that a year before the capture, a young 27-year-old man really killed his father in the forest. Confessing to every criminal step, Dudd gave the impression of an unhealthy person. This was the main reason for the transfer from the police station to a shelter for the insane.
Of course, Richard Dudd in Bedlam was not the only insane criminal. However, his fate is so unique that, having got acquainted with it, you can safely challenge the prevailing opinion about the impossibility of the existence of a genius and a villain in one person.
Childhood and youth of the artist
The artist was born in England in 1817, in the city of Chatham. Despite the fact that it was a small town, it was quite famous at that time in the whole of modern Britain. In Chatham was part of the Royal Navy. Dadd's parents had a modest pharmaceutical business - they owned a pharmacy in the central part of the city.
Education Richard received at a local school. Dadd will celebrate his 20th anniversary in London, since by then his father had managed to open his own workshop there. Engaged in woodcarving and gilding carved ornaments, the young man simultaneously attended courses at the Art Academy at the Royal Court. This institution is still considered the most prestigious school of fine arts in Foggy Albion.
Fateful journey
After just a few years, Richard Dadd was talked about as a talented, developing creator. Sir Thomas Phillips invited him on an expedition to Egypt and the countries of the Middle East. It is believed that this trip played a fatal role in the life of a young man.
Traveling was not easy. After a long exhausting journey, his emotional state was so depressing that Dudd in his letters confessed to his friend the changes that he himself felt. Sleep problems, overcrowded imagination caused Richard to fear for his peace of mind.
Probably, the artist received indelible impressions during his visit to the "city of the dead" in Egypt. Since then, he began to believe that the powerful Osiris began to rule over him. Due to auto-suggestion, monsters and devils began to appear to Richard Dadd. He was overcome by terrible desires: for example, on the way home, once in Italy, he admitted that he would like to kill the Pope.
Sunstroke or schizophrenia?
No one took seriously such statements by a talented young man, considering the first signs of insanity an unsuccessful stupid joke due to excessive fatigue. Moreover, upon arrival in London and when contacting specialists, they did not find anything suspicious in the patient's behavior. Doctors have diagnosed sunstroke.
Relatives and relatives of the artist, convinced that the young man had become withdrawn and partly eccentric, were seriously worried. Richard Dadd (the artist’s photo cannot accurately convey the changes caused by his sick state of mind) kept several hundred chicken eggs in his room and also wore goat leather gloves. The first person to dispel the myth of the validity of the previous diagnosis was psychiatrist Alexander Sutherland. He practically passed the verdict on the young man’s family: the talented young artist Richard Dudd is incapable, because he is not able to bear responsibility for his actions. The recommendation of a specialist was to isolate Richard from society and constant medical supervision.
Murder of the father and life isolation
And it was no accident: soon the irreparable really happened. Robert Dudd was killed by his own son. At a military festival in Chatham, the sick young man was excited and attacked his father. With a sailor's knife, he hit Robert Dadd in the chest, and then cut his throat. The next day, the body of the deceased was found, but the news of the capture of a crazy and outstanding artist circled England only a year later.
The rest of his life, Richard Dudd spent in the clinic. Bedlam was the last point for him. Despite the fact that there he was completely divorced from the world and the public, the artist did not waste his talent. The disease did not affect the functioning of the part of the brain responsible for its creativity. Until the end of his life, the artist continued to create masterpieces one by one.
Recognition of Mad Creator Talent
The creative method of Richard Dudd attracted attention almost a century after the death of an outstanding author. The first picture, bought for 500 thousand pounds, "Dispute: Oberon and Titania", in 1984 opened interest in other works of the creator. A few years later, another masterpiece was sold under the hammer - "The Artist's Stay in the Desert", for 100 thousand pounds. A confirmation of the popularity of the author from Bedlam is also the fact that many of his works are still kept in the largest world galleries.
Richard Dadd's “The Swing of a Fairy Lumberjack” deserves special attention. The artist has been painting for 9 years in a psychiatric hospital. This legendary canvas is one of many masterpieces created by Richard Dudd. The “masterful swing of a fabulous lumberjack” served as the basis for the creation of many other valuable works of not only pictorial art. For instance:
- in 1988, based on his motives, Oliver Knussen wrote a musical fantasy called “Blossom with Fireworks”;
- Terry Pratchett's reference to the painting is in The Little Free People;
- one of the hits of the rock band Queen is the same name.
A few words about the "Swing of a fairytale lumberjack"
A brief description of this picture deserves attention. In the foreground is the vegetation. For flowers and herbs, the viewer is easy to discover a whole world of non-existent fictional characters. In the story, all the fairy-tale characters are waiting for the moment when the lumberjack hits a hazelnut. The fruit serves as the center of the entire composition, “The Masterful Swing of the Fairy Lumberjack.” Richard Dudd seemed to endow him with magical powers. It seems that as soon as the ax split it, something important for the characters in the picture will certainly happen.
Richard Dadd’s “The Swing of the Fairy Lumberjack” was originally an order from the Royal Hospital’s Chief Executive Officer. Henry Hayden repeatedly admired the talent of a mentally ill artist. The grandiose canvas has survived to this day thanks to the work of the Tate Gallery. The English poet Sigmund Sassoon presented the work in memory of his friend (by the way, great-grandson of Richard Dadd) Julian Dadde.
How Dudd spent his years in the hospital: notes from doctors
The biggest mystery for researchers today is what the master was able to create in such terrible conditions. And considering that Bedlam, in comparison with similar medical institutions, was considered by the standards of that time the most humane, it is difficult to imagine how the mentally ill spent their days in other places. According to eyewitnesses, the chambers in which the so-called insane criminals were settled (including Dadda) were more like cages for the most dangerous predators.
The presence of information about how the artist spent more than 40 years in Bedlam is a merit of Charles Hood. This man from 1852 served as chief physician in the clinic. With his arrival, much in the functioning of the medical institution has changed dramatically. In particular, the beginning of maintaining case histories is associated with its appearance. For each clinical case, the medical staff began to relate much more carefully. Little is known about Richard Dadd, but, according to Charles Hood, he was one of the most dangerous and aggressive patients. Meanwhile, the doctor noted that it was more pleasant and interesting to the interlocutor than this person, he had not met in his entire life. It was simply impossible not to notice his brilliant mental abilities, the sophistication in the nuances of his favorite business during the conversation.
The artist was not the only son of Robert Dudd. Interestingly, the younger brother of Richard George also found himself in Bedlam some time after the death of his father. It was assumed that both brothers suffered from an ailment acquired by heredity. The emotional and mental health problems of Richard and George did not manifest themselves for a long time, proceeding in a latent form, but under the influence of certain factors, the mechanism of mental disorder was launched.
Moving to Broadmoor and the last years of life
In 1864, after 20 years in Bedlam, Dadda was transported to Broadmoor. The modern hospital, built there the day before, seemed to doctors a more suitable place for a talented artist to stay. He had many advantages in comparison with Bedlam. Moving here had a positive impact on the mental state of Richard Dadd, although there were no significant changes.
The work of Richard Dadd, who lived almost 70 years and died in 1886 from tuberculosis, is amazing today. Psychiatrists and psychologists tried to find in his canvases any details testifying to his mental disorder. By the way, “Exodus from Egypt”, “Mad Jane”, “Passion” contain many different details that allowed specialists to partially unravel the secrets of the mental ill health of a genius.
Modern doctors have no doubt that the artist’s illness would not be a sentence today. A qualified correction of the patient’s mental state would give him a chance to remove isolation. In a normal, unlimited life, recovery would probably be much faster. At the same time, no one can guarantee that the course of the strongest psychotropic medicines would not affect his creative activity. The talent of the master was preserved in its original form, largely due to the safe and ineffective therapy of that time.
The medical information about Richard Dadde contains information confirming the artist's final loss of mind in 1869. At the same time, he continued to draw almost until his death. The last works of the creator date back to 1883. Several years before his death, it was especially hard for a genius artist. Being all forgotten and abandoned, he was physically exhausted, suffering from a strong cough with blood. In 1886, Richard Dudd died, the painting of which still captures the eyes and makes one admire.
The case of Richard Dadd as evidence of the effectiveness of the “active imagination” technique
Art has gained considerable importance in the treatment of mentally ill people. In the middle of the last century, Carl Jung proved the effectiveness of the “active imagination” method. The developer based his evidence on the effectiveness of stimulating internal abilities to create symbolic spontaneous works. It is possible to achieve resolution of a mental conflict in each individual case only in an unconscious way, specifying what is desired with words, music, and drawings.
Unfortunately, in the 19th century the method of “active imagination” was not yet known. At the moment, this component of psychotherapy is actively used in many medical institutions in Europe, including Italy, England, France, etc. The results demonstrated by Karl Jung’s technique do not cease to amaze even today: patients, listening to music or painting, calm down several times faster than taking chemicals.
This method of relaxation helps to get rid of irritation and discontent, calm down and tune in to the inner emotional mood. Perhaps this was exactly what Richard Dadd was lacking, a brilliant artist, whose most powerful creative charge cannot but delight.