In Tate Britain
In Tate Britain
Biography
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. What he called his prophetic works were said by 20th-century critic Northrop Frye to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". His visual artistry led 21st-century critic Jonathan Jones to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced". In 2002, Blake was placed at number 38 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. While he lived in London his entire life, except for three years spent in Felpham, he produced a diverse and symbolically rich œuvre, which embraced the imagination as "the body of God" or "human existence itself".
Although Blake was considered mad by contemporaries for his idiosyncratic views, he is held in high regard by later critics for his expressiveness and creativity, and for the philosophical and mystical undercurrents within his work. His paintings and poetry have been characterised as part of the Romantic movement and as "Pre-Romantic". A committed Christian who was hostile to the Church of England (indeed, to almost all forms of organised religion), Blake was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the French and American revolutions. Though later he rejected many of these political beliefs, he maintained an amiable relationship with the political activist Thomas Paine; he was also influenced by thinkers such as Emanuel Swedenborg. Despite these known influences, the singularity of Blake's work makes him difficult to classify. The 19th-century scholar William Michael Rossetti characterised him as a "glorious luminary", and "a man not forestalled by predecessors, nor to be classed with contemporaries, nor to be replaced by known or readily surmisable successors".
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Read full Wikipedia entryArtworks
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William Blake The Inscription over the Gate
1824–7 -
William Blake Behemoth and Leviathan
1825, reprinted 1874 -
William Blake Newton
1795–c.1805 -
William Blake Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing
c.1786 -
William Blake The Good and Evil Angels
1795–?c.1805 -
William Blake The Ghost of a Flea
c.1819–20 -
William Blake Satan in his Original Glory: ‘Thou wast Perfect till Iniquity was Found in Thee’
c.1805 -
William Blake Satan Smiting Job with Sore Boils
c.1826
Artist as subject
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Francis Bacon Study for Portrait II (after the Life Mask of William Blake)
1955 -
John Akomfrah CBE The Unfinished Conversation
2012 -
Attributed to John Linnell The Man Who Taught Blake Painting in his Dreams (after William Blake)
c.1825 -
After William Blake The Man Who Taught Blake Painting in his Dreams (counterproof)
after c.1819–20 -
Godfrey Samuel, recipient: Marie-Louise Von Motesiczky Postcard from Godfrey Samuel
9 September 1961 -
Paul Nash, recipient: Margaret Nash Letter from Paul Nash to Margaret Nash written from France while on commission to make drawings at the Front as a war artist
27 November 1917 -
Bernard Meninsky Notebook
date not known -
Sir Jacob Epstein, recipient: Peggy Jean Lewis Letter from Jacob Epstein to Peggy Jean Hornstein
25 November [1957] -
Eileen Agar, Andrew Lambirth Typewritten lecture entitled ‘Surrealism in England in the 1930s’ given by Andrew Lambirth and Eileen Agar at the Royal College of Art
[1988]
Film and audio
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Listen
Audio recording of the opening lines of Dante's Divine Comedy
Opening lines of Dante’s Divine Comedy
Features
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Tate Etc
William Blake and Bob Marley: Poets and Prophets
The London-born poet Raymond Antrobus recounts how the words of both William Blake and Bob Marley shaped his upbringing
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Tate Etc
Between terror and ecstasy: Artistic hallucination
Stories of hallucinations in art and literature date back to the Bible, but the idea of the artistic hallucination is …
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Online Guide
A Queer Walk Through British Art
Discover queer responses to our collection, curated by members of the LGBTQ+ community at Tate and beyond
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Tate Etc
Private View: Stay as you are, Mrs Blake
William Blake's simple pencil drawing of his (long-suffering) wife Catherine reveals the tenderness in their relationship
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Look Closer
William Blake's Jerusalem
Take a closer look at Blake's longest - and most mysterious - illuminated book
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Look Closer
William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience
Take a closer look at several of Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience in their original illustrated form
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Look Closer
William Blake's illustrations to Dante's Divine Comedy
Explore seven of Blake's illustrations to Dante's classic work in detail
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Look Closer
William Blake's cast of characters
Blake believed in the power of the imagination. Meet the various characters in his personal mythology and their meaning in …
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Art Term
Tempera
The technique of painting with pigments bound in a water-soluble emulsion, such as water and egg yolk, or an oil-in-water …
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