William Blake
Biography and Paintings of the English Watercolourist, Printmaker, Engraver, Etcher and Poet.
Visual Arts Guide

William Blake (1757-1827)

Although now considered to be a true pioneer and visionary, the talented poet and artist Wiliiam Blake went largely unrecognised in his own lifetime. It took several years before historians and critics 'discovered' the importance of his work on the development of printmaking and fine art painting. Although Blake rarely travelled further than a day's walk outside of London during his lifetime, his paintings and poetry demonstrate a diverse imagination and awareness of the world around him. His work has been categorized as part of the Romantic movement, and his most notable paintings, mainly on symbolic religious subjects, include The Angel Gabriel Appearing to Zacharias, c.1799; The Angel of the Revelation, c.1803 (both at the Metropolitian Musemn of Art, New York) and his set of etchings for the Book of Job.

Born in London - his father ran a hosiery shop - he was taught to read and write by his mother, and then worked in the family business. His family were religious and the bible would remain a source of inspiration for Blake throughout his life. At an early age, he started engraving copies of drawings by the great Old Masters of the Renaissance, like Raphael, Michelangelo and Albrecht Durer. At the age of 14, his family recognised his talent for drawing and sent him to an engraver to be apprenticed. His apprenticeship lasted 7 years and included time spent copying images from the Gothic churches of London. After his apprentice, he became a student at the Royal Academy in London.

In 1782, he met Catherine Boucher, who was to become his wife. At the time, Blake was reeling from a refusal of a marriage proposal by another woman. He told his story to Catherine, whereupon Blake asked her ‘Do you pity me?’ She said she did, and so he replied: 'In that case I love you'. They were married the same year. She was illiterate, so he taught her to read and write. He also trained her as an engraver and throughout his career she was an invaluable help in his work.

Blake’s reputation as an important figure in the history of art rests largely on a set of 21 copperplates he executed to illustrate the Old Testament Book of Job. He employed the traditional technique of line-engraving in unconventional ways. He used visual aids and text in the margins to emphasis points; he incorporated symbolic images from his personal mythology and quoted from other parts of the bible. His interpretation is personal, complex and multi-layered and his meanings continue to provide a point of debate even today.

Although he worked for other artists, he was always slow to collect payment or credit. A poor businessman, he preferred to choose his own subjects, rather than relying on commissions. In 1788, he illustrated the book Original Stories from Real Life by feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. He was an early defender of women's rights to choose whom they married and a woman's right to self-fulfillment. He claimed to have religious visions since a child, which fired his imagination for spiritual works. Having admitted this to a friend, he was persuaded to paint one of these visions, which he did so in his work The Ghost of a Flea, 1819.

In 1826, Blake received a commission to illustrate Dante's Inferno, but he only completed a handful of watercolours and etchings before his death the following year. Despite this, his watercolours are seen as some of his greatest works. Like Dante, Blake placed little value on material wealth, and even as he worked feverishly on his last illustrations, he is said to spent the last few shillings he possessed on a pencil to continue sketching. On the day of his death, he drew one last portrait of his wife (now lost) and died a few hours later. Unfortunately the exact location of his grave has been lost.

Catherine believed that her husband's spirit remained with her. She continued to sell copies of his illuminated works and paintings, but would not agree to a sale before 'consulting Mr Blake'. On the day she died, she cheerfully called out to her husband, as if they were in the same room, that she was coming to him.

In 1949, Australia established the Blake Prize for Religious Art in his honour, and in 1957 a memorial was erected in Westminster Abbey, in memory of him and his wife. His etchings, drawings and writings went on to influence several famous artists within the Expressionism movement, as well as other writers and modern songwriters like Van Morrison, U2 and Mike Westbrook.

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