TATE COLLECTION


TATE COLLECTION

Glossary home
Browse terms
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Fairy Painting 

A fascination with fairies and the supernatural was a phenomenon of the Victorian age and resulted in a distinctive strand of art depicting fairy subjects drawn from myth and legend and particularly from Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. Early, pre-Victorian examples are in Fuseli, Blake and Von Holst. Later Dadd created keynote paintings, but most consistent and compelling is Fitzgerald. Richard Doyle also produced notable fairy illustrations. Other contributions came from many painters including Landseer and even Turner. Reached final flowering in illustrated books of Rackham around 1900–14.
 

Henry Fuseli, Titania and Bottom, circa 1790
Henry Fuseli
Titania and Bottom
circa 1790
 
Richard Dadd, The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke, 1855-64
Richard Dadd
The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke
1855-64
 
John Anster Fitzgerald, The Fairy's Lake, ?exhibited 1866
John Anster Fitzgerald
The Fairy's Lake
?exhibited 1866