William Blake

Songs of Innocence, visionary paintings — poet-artist

Poet, painter, printmaker, and visionary — he belongs to both literature and art and fits comfortably in neither. His illuminated books fused text and image in a way no one had attempted since medieval manuscripts. His watercolors for Dante and Job are among the most powerful visual interpretations of literary texts ever made.

Key works

• Songs of Innocence and of Experience1789/1794— Illuminated poetry — 'Tyger Tyger, burning bright'
  Multiple copies — British Museum, London; Yale Center for British Art; Library of Congress
• Illustrations to the Book of Job1826— 21 engravings — suffering and divine mystery
  Multiple impressions — Tate Britain, London; Morgan Library, New York
• The Marriage of Heaven and Hell1790— 'The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom'
  Multiple copies — Bodleian Library, Oxford; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Connections

External