Sketch to illustrate the Passions: Patriotism
Drawing
1857 (made)
1857 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Dadd made a series of watercolours illustrating the Passions whilst he was in the Bethlem Hospital in London, where he was confined after murdering his father in 1843. Each of the other watercolours in this series has a moral theme, and is comparable to a literary illustration. Patriotism is exceptional; it was the last in the series, and the composition seems to have been influenced by C.R. Leslie's painting Uncle Toby and the Widow Wadman (an illustration to Laurence Sterne's book Tristam Shandy). The veterans in Dadd's drawing are clearly meant to be 18th century rather than contemporary. They are studying a map (which has been densely inscribed) of an imaginary place which Dadd has named Olabolika. The places on the map are named after human qualities, or are bleakly amusing: for example, he includes a 'Lunatic Asylum called Lostwithal'. This drawing is a complex and self-consciously humorous work in which Dadd refers obliquely to his own situation and to ideas - literary and visual - which had influenced him, or with which he felt some sympathy or personal indentification.
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Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | Sketch to illustrate the Passions: Patriotism (assigned by artist) |
Materials and techniques | pen and ink and watercolour, heightened with white, on paper |
Brief description | Drawing, a 'General Plan of the City of Olabolika', pen and ink and watercolour, Richard Dadd, Great Britain, 1857 |
Physical description | A sketch showing the heads and shoulders of two old soldiers who are examining a map and the dense text inscribed on it. The map is invented, and is titled 'A General Plan of the City of Olabolika'. |
Dimensions |
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Marks and inscriptions | Sketch to illustrate the Passions: Patriotism by Richard Dadd. Bethlehem Hospital, London May 30th 1857. St. George's in the Fields. (Inscribed along the lower margin) |
Gallery label | Dadd made this drawing whilst confined to a hospital for the insane, after murdering his father. Two old soldiers are poring over a map of an imaginary place which Dadd called Olabolika. This complex and humorous work has places named after human qualities, and inscriptions referring to his own situation and to ideas that had influenced him.(2007) |
Credit line | Bequeathed by Forster |
Object history | Forster Bequest |
Subjects depicted | |
Summary | Dadd made a series of watercolours illustrating the Passions whilst he was in the Bethlem Hospital in London, where he was confined after murdering his father in 1843. Each of the other watercolours in this series has a moral theme, and is comparable to a literary illustration. Patriotism is exceptional; it was the last in the series, and the composition seems to have been influenced by C.R. Leslie's painting Uncle Toby and the Widow Wadman (an illustration to Laurence Sterne's book Tristam Shandy). The veterans in Dadd's drawing are clearly meant to be 18th century rather than contemporary. They are studying a map (which has been densely inscribed) of an imaginary place which Dadd has named Olabolika. The places on the map are named after human qualities, or are bleakly amusing: for example, he includes a 'Lunatic Asylum called Lostwithal'. This drawing is a complex and self-consciously humorous work in which Dadd refers obliquely to his own situation and to ideas - literary and visual - which had influenced him, or with which he felt some sympathy or personal indentification. |
Collection | |
Accession number | F.59 |
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Record created | March 23, 2007 |
Record URL |
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