Image: Royal Academy of Arts, London
The Royal Academy of Arts in London will open 'Richard Dadd: Beyond Bedlam' on 25 July 2026, presenting what it describes as a survey of the highly original work of the Victorian artist Richard Dadd. The exhibition runs until 23 August 2026 and, according to the Academy, marks the first major exhibition of Dadd’s work in five decades.
The announcement places emphasis on Dadd’s reputation for fairy paintings while also stressing the wider range of sources behind his imagery. The Academy says he drew on literature, legend and memory while residing in Bethlem and Broadmoor hospitals, creating elaborate worlds that “resemble little else in British art.” The exhibition title signals that the project will look beyond the most familiar part of his output.
Dadd’s work has long occupied an unusual place in British art history because of the combination of inventive subject matter and the circumstances under which much of it was made. The Royal Academy’s preview material frames him as a “unique British artist” and points to the imaginative power of the paintings themselves. The institution has also published related introductory content under the heading 'Start here: Richard Dadd', outlining key points about his life and art ahead of the exhibition.
The images accompanying the announcement indicate the range of material associated with the project. They include 'The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke' by Richard Dadd, dated 1855–64, and 'Bacchanalian Scene' from 1862, as well as a photographic portrait of Dadd by Henry Hering, c. 1857. A further image shows Sir John Gilbert RA’s 'Sketches of Queen Victoria', dated 1887. The Academy’s notice does not give a full checklist, but the selection suggests an exhibition that will place Dadd within both his own pictorial imagination and broader Victorian visual culture.
The Royal Academy is also programming public events around the exhibition. A curator talk titled 'Richard Dadd' is scheduled as an in-person event on Saturday 12 September 2026 from 11am to 12.15pm. In addition, the Academy is running 'Art in Victorian Britain', a six-week talk series on Tuesdays from 1 September 2026, from 6.30pm to 7.45pm. These related programmes are being presented separately from the exhibition itself in the Academy’s announcement.
The exhibition is supported by the Tavolozza Foundation and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts, with additional support from Colin McCorquodale, the late Miss Rosemary Lomax-Simpson and The Dr. Lee MacCormick Edwards Charitable Foundation. The Royal Academy’s email also notes that Friends can receive free entry to all exhibitions. The venue listed for the exhibition is the Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London.
