The Fuseli Collection

This exhibition is now closed

A collection of drawings discovered in a private Dunedin collection in 1963 and subsequently purchased by the Auckland City Art Gallery. It appears likely that the collection was originally owned by Moses Haughton, a pupil of Stubbs, who was the engraver of many of Fuseli's works. Haughton lived with Fuseli between 1803 and 1819 and would have therefore been able to choose drawings at the artist's recommendation. This in part accounts for the extraordinarily high quality of the majority of the works.

Fuseli was a mannerist romantic painter who, like Blake, was concerned with imaginative expression. His works bordered more on the surrealist approach of terror and suspense than Blake's but both artists were renowned for rebelling against the classical disciplines of the day.

This exhibition is a part of a composite exhibition titled Paperchase curated by the Robert McDougall Art Gallery as its contribution to the Christchurch Festival. As the title suggests, paperworks in their many forms will be featured.

('The Fuseli Collection', Bulletin, No.31, January/February 1984, p.2)

Exhibition number 306

  • Date:
    20 February – 26 March 1984