"William Blake"
2000-11-09 until 2001-02-11
Tate Britian
London, , UK United Kingdom

This exhibition will take a fresh, bold look at the unique and innovative Romantic British artist and poet, William Blake (1757-1827). This will be the first major exhibition of Blake's work in more than twenty years and will include more than 400 works drawn from public and private collections throughout the world. The exhibition will offer a clear and informative overview of his life and work, putting him in context with the political and social upheavals of his time and bringing the symbolism of such popular works as Jerusalem, The Ghost of a Flea and The Tyger to life.

The exhibition will contain four sections, each of which will look at a facet of Blake's art and life. One of these sections Chambers of the Imagination, will be an exploration of Blake's thinking as a visionary artist. Another looks at the artist's years in Lambeth during the 1790s. This was the time of the French Revolution and the rise of radicalism in Britain. Along with this came Blake's pioneering development of a form of print-making and book-making through which he could express and circulate his own revolutionary thoughts. One special feature of this part of the show will be a 're-creation' of Blake's studio which, through the display of engraving tools and aspects of his engraving process, will explain the very practical skills which Blake had mastered in order to be his own man.

The curators for the exhibition are Robin Hamlyn, Curator, Tate Collections and Michael Phillips, art historian and lecturer, University of York.

IMAGE:
William Blake 1757-1827
from Illustrations to Dante's 'Divine Comedy',
The Inscription over the Gate (1824-7)

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