Henry Fuseli: Drama and Theatre

by Eva Reifert (editor), Bodo Brinkmann (Editor)

The renowned 18th-century painter Henry Fuseli, who revered Shakespeare and loved all things theatrical, is the subject of this lavishly illustrated book which focuses on the influence literary sources and contemporary theatre had on his work.

Shadows and light, high drama and the supernatural, these elements are hallmarks of Henry Fuseli's paintings. Accompanying a long-overdue show of Fuseli's works inspired by literary sources, this book addresses his appreciation of Greek tragedy, Shakespearian drama, and Milton's monumental verse epos Paradise Lost. While most of the criticism around Fuseli focuses on his nightmarish visions indicative of the emerging era of Dark Romanticism, this book examines the dramatic elements both in subject matter and style of his paintings, which include themes of triumph and despair rendered in sharp contrast and explosive expression. Illustrated with brilliant reproductions, the essays in this book explore Fuseli's world of literary sources as well as his new approach to the stage arts, and how the enthusiasm for Shakespeare in the 18th century played a part in the conception and marketing of Fuseli's work, thus creating a more comprehensive understanding of his background, time, and world view.

Genres: History, Art

240 pages, Hardcover

Published January 8, 2019

Reviews

[Warwick]

An extremely good collection of essays from what must have been a fantastic exhibition (at the Kunstmuseum Basel in 2018). Among the many things here that I've never seen in any other writing about Fuseli are a close look at the influence of his tutors Bodmer and Breitinger in Zurich, and – particularly valuable – a report from Caroline Rae about the types of pigments and other painting materials that Fuseli used, as shown by radiography and spectrometry analysis. The colour plates are also very well reproduced.

[Regina Andreassen]

3.75 stars. Fluidly written and enlightening essays, which, however, people who are not acquainted with aesthetic theory, anthropology of aesthetics, and at history, may find challenging to follow art times. In spite of that, each essay provides a insightful perspective on Fuseli, his work, his inspiration, and his time. This book may also awaken the desire of the reader to learn more about Fuseli’s ouvre and about the work of his contemporaries.

My main issue with the book is the presentation of the illustrations. They were mostly of good quality, alas, the display was inconsistent. I found puzzling to see how poorly formatted some pages were. I know that it is hard to fit certain illustrations in one page but many artworks could have definitely be better displayed, especially those which have a portrait orientation. Furthermore, it was rather frustrating to see the addition of some very small images at the bottom of some of the text, when there was no need for it as their quality was poor; besides the awkward placement made it exceedingly difficult for the theme and details of the artworks to be fully appreciated.

Overall, this is an illuminating, fairly organised, and engaging book but there is room for improvement. I am very pleased to have it at home as I have no doubts that I will be reading it again several times and it is also going to spark some conversation with my friends and family 😀

[Grimmthorny]

Intriguing look at the influence of drama on Fuseli's works, with particular attention to Shakespeare's plays, Garrick's portrayal of them on stage and Milton's epic poem. Good, yet brief article on paint analysis/ restoration as applied to Fuseli's works. I found the catalogue texts section on the individual paintings very helpful. Abundant colour plates.

That being said, the articles included were slightly repetitive and at times lacked the detail I was hoping for. The book's overall layout is somewhat ungainly with large print throughout and comparatively small photographs.

[?0?0?0]

It's an interesting, myopic look into the art work of Fuseli, presented in a medium-sized, beautiful hardcover, the reproductions look amazing and the essays are intriguing.