A retrospective of the works of William Blake, a visionary artist, was inaugurated at the Tate Gallery in London on November 8th 2000.
Due to last until February 11th 2001, this retrospective is the first to be held in 20 years. Blake (1757-1827) was altogether a painter, draughtsman, engraver and poet and notably illustrated Dante's “Divine Comedy” considered as his will. This quite mystical artist expressed apocalyptic visions and was called “mad Blake” by his friends.
His favourite themes were the Bible, Shakespeare's plays, Milton's poems and Dante's “Divine Comedy”.
Over 400 works, oils, drawings, engravings, illustrations and poems, are gathered in the Tate Gallery. Blake considered somewhat the Devil as the master of the world and evil as the mainstream of existence but after all he was a free artist.
At seven he pretended that he had encountered God who had watched him through a window and that angels later appeared in front of him perched on the branches of a tree. He worked in 1772 as an apprentice to James Basire, an engraver, copying details of old churches and nurturing a taste for Gothic style. He then studied at the Royal Academy and was impressed by Dürer, Raphael and Michel-Angelo. Blake befriended Flaxman, a draughtsman and sculptor, who published his poems, as well as Füssli, who exerted a strong influence over his work.
Blake opened a studio in 1784 and went on to produced strange works such as the “Rock of Albion” and worked on the coast of Sussex until 1800. After settling in London, he had already published most of his poems based on the Bible, Dante and Milton as well as contemporary events, which he interpreted in his own manner. His works heralded a new vision of Christianity based on visual symbolism. In addition, he illustrated most of his poems stressing his defiance of reason and implying that senses constituted inevitable obstacles on the way to wisdom and eternal joy.
Blake had much in common with Füssli in terms of style and was like him a pioneer of Romanticism. At the end of his life he did not manage to finish an ambitious composition titled “The Last Judgement” and died singing a canticle.
A retrospective of the works of William Blake, a visionary artist, was inaugurated at the Tate Gallery in London on November 8th 2000.
Due to last until February 11th 2001, this retrospective is the first to be held in 20 years. Blake (1757-1827) was altogether a painter, draughtsman, engraver and poet and notably illustrated Dante's “Divine Comedy” considered as his will. This quite mystical artist expressed apocalyptic visions and was called “mad Blake” by his friends.
His favourite themes were the Bible, Shakespeare's plays, Milton's poems and Dante's “Divine Comedy”.
Over 400 works, oils, drawings, engravings, illustrations and poems, are gathered in the Tate Gallery. Blake considered somewhat the Devil as the master of the world and evil as the mainstream of existence but after all he was a free artist.
At seven he pretended that he had encountered God who had watched him through a window and that angels later appeared in front of him perched on the branches of a tree. He worked in 1772 as an apprentice to James Basire, an engraver, copying details of old churches and nurturing a taste for Gothic style. He then studied at the Royal Academy and was impressed by Dürer, Raphael and Michel-Angelo. Blake befriended Flaxman, a draughtsman and sculptor, who published his poems, as well as Füssli, who exerted a strong influence over his work.
Blake opened a studio in 1784 and went on to produced strange works such as the “Rock of Albion” and worked on the coast of Sussex until 1800. After settling in London, he had already published most of his poems based on the Bible, Dante and Milton as well as contemporary events, which he interpreted in his own manner. His works heralded a new vision of Christianity based on visual symbolism. In addition, he illustrated most of his poems stressing his defiance of reason and implying that senses constituted inevitable obstacles on the way to wisdom and eternal joy.
Blake had much in common with Füssli in terms of style and was like him a pioneer of Romanticism. At the end of his life he did not manage to finish an ambitious composition titled “The Last Judgement” and died singing a canticle.
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