“Tate Britain presents the largest survey of work by William Blake (1757-1827) in the UK for a generation. A visionary painter, printmaker and poet, Blake created some of the most iconic images in the history of British art and has remained an inspiration to artists, musicians, writers and performers worldwide for over two centuries. This ambitious exhibition brings together over 300 remarkable and rarely seen works and rediscover Blake as a visual artist for the 21st century.

Tate Britain reimagines the artist’s work as he intended it to be experienced. Blake’s art was a product of his tumultuous times, with revolution, war and progressive politics acting as the crucible of his unique imagination, yet he struggled to be understood and appreciated during his life. Now renowned as a poet, Blake also had grand ambitions as a visual artist and envisioned vast frescos that were never realised. For the first time, The Spiritual Form of Nelson Guiding Leviathan c.1805-9 and The Spiritual Form of Pitt Guiding Behemoth c.1805 are digitally enlarged and projected onto the gallery wall on the huge scale that Blake imagined. The original artworks are displayed nearby in a restaging of Blake’s ill-fated exhibition of 1809, the artist’s only significant attempt to create a public reputation for himself as a painter. Tate recreates the domestic room above his family hosiery shop in which the show was held, allowing visitors to encounter the paintings exactly as people did in 1809.” — Tate Britain

William Blake (1757-1827). 
Albion Rose, c. 1793. 
Colour engraving, 
250 x 211 mm. Courtesy of the Huntington Art Collections

William Blake (1757-1827. 
Pity, c.1795. 
Colour print, ink and watercolour on pape, 425 x 539 m
. Tate

William Blake (1757-1827). 
Newton, 1795-c. 1805. 
Colour print, ink and watercolour on paper, 
460 x 600 mm. 
Tate

William Blake (1757-1827)
. Capaneus the Blasphemer, 1824-1827. 
Pen and ink and watercolour over pencil and black chalk, with sponging and scratching ou, 
374 x 527 mm. 
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

William Blake (1757-1827). Europe Plate i: Frontispiece, The Ancient of Days, 1827. 
Etching with ink and watercolour on paper, 
232 x 120mm. The Whitworth, The University of Manchester

William Blake was curated by Martin Myrone, Lead Curator pre-1800 British Art, and Amy Concannon, Assistant Curator, British Art 1790-1850.

Images courtesy Tate Britain.