Fuseli, Henry

(2/6/1741 Zurich-4/16/1825 London) (Switzerland / England); aka Fussli, Hans Heinrich / Fussli, Heinrich / Fussli, Henri / Fussli, Johann

   Painter, author, and theorist. Came to London in 1765 where he became influenced by J. Reynolds and was acquainted with Blake. Produced works based on Biblical, literary, and mythological themes. Considered a major figure of the pre-Romantic movement. A number of his works depict explicit sexual activity.

   Reproductions: Couple by candle light; c1815-1820; Spink, 1973: p. 157 . [Fellatio scene]; Wallace 2007: p. 40 . Fireplace; 1798; Lucie-Smith, 1972: p. 112 [B]. The kiss; c1816; Lucie-Smith, 1972: frontispiece [B]. Lady Betty; Melville, 1973: fig. 191 [B]. Lesbian couple; c1815-1820; Webb, 1975: p. 156 [B]. [Rear entry group sex scene]; Wallace 2007: p. 40 [C]. Sleeping woman and the Furies; 1821; Lucie-Smith, 1972: p. 111 [B]. [Three women and a Black man] 1809-1810; pencil and wash; Bentley, 1984: pp. 92-93 [B] / Kronhausen, 1970c: p. 6 [B] / Smith, 1974: pp. ii-iii [C] / Tilly, 1986: p. 22 [C] / Webb, 1975: p. 154 [B] / Hill, 1992: p. 115 [C] / Erotic drawings, 2004: p. 39 [B]. Two lesbians; 1810-1820; pen; Tilly, 1986: p. 25 [C]. [Two women with ithyphallic dwarf]; pencil and watercolor; Kronhausen, 1970c: p. 7 [B]. Wolfram looking at his wife, whom he has imprisoned with the corpse of her lover; 1812-1820; Lucie-Smith, 1972: p. 113 [B]. Woman by a fireplace; c1817: Webb, 1975: p. 153 [B]. [Woman with a strap-on enters a figure]; Neret, 2000: p. 12 [B].

   [b]Source: Jorgen Andersen, "Den haenge mand," Cras (Dragr, Denmark) 54 (1989): pp. 34-47; Benezit, vol. 5: pp. 1189 -1191; Carlo Bertelli, "I disegni che non sono stati esposti al Poldi Pezzoli: l'incubo erotico di Fuseli," Bolaffiarte 8, 75 (December 1977): pp. 9-11; DoA vol. 11: pp. 857-862; Kathleen Russo, "Henry Fuseli and erotic art of the eighteenth century," in Eros in the mind's eye, edited by D. Palumbo (New York: Greenwood, 1986): pp. 39-57; ThB XII 1916: p. 566.