Art of The Recurring Nightmare

It was a sensation. Just as Damien Hirst's shark would do two centuries later, so a single painting exhibited by Henry Fuseli at the Royal Academy in 1782 captured the popular imagination and set the tone for one of the cultural obsessions of the age. The Nightmare, which forms the central focus of a new art exhibition at Tate Britain exploring the phenomenon of Gothic horror in late 18th-century Britain, was derived from a 17th-century horror story in which an imp ravaged a sleeping girl. Fuseli shows the aftermath of this unholy union, tempering his image with a healthy dose of bestiality and sadism. One of this year's must-see art exhibitions, offering a unique excursion into the collective consciousness of a vanished world. Until May 1st at Tate Britain. For the full story - click the title Irish Art