RICHARD DADD (1817-1886) Biography

Description / Expertise

This is one of Dadd’s most sensitive and lyrical compositions among his Bethlem figure studies, and shows his superb control over the medium of watercolour. ‘Poor Crazy Jane’ was a popular ballad, one of several versions of the story of a girl driven mad by her lover’s desertion, and destined to wander the countryside. The figure is clearly drawn from a male model, suggesting that he was sometimes able to get his fellow-patients to model for him.