Only centuries later, the British poet and artist William Blake was able to win the title of an outstanding master of English art. During the life of the painter, philosopher and writer, his contemporaries treated him with great distrust.
Contemporaries attributed William Blake to a madman. During his lifetime, the master did not receive recognition. But now he is called one of the most important figures in the history of art of the Age of Romanticism.
The path to art
Critics noted the amazing depth, mysticism, the philosophical component of his works, characterized as preromantic. Literary works contain elements of psychoanalysis, which became popular only by the beginning of the last century.
The source of inspiration for the painter was the Bible. However, the author became the creator of his own mythology, which combined the principles of the Enlightenment and religious dogmas.
The biography of the future figure began in 1757. The child was born on August 12 in London in a wealthy family. The father sold fabrics, the mother raised 5 children. Parents did not restrict the freedom of their descendants. Therefore, painting the son was not called useless. William began with reproductions of great painters, acquired especially for him.
From the age of ten, Blake attended art school. He got a job in a workshop for an engraver, learning how to apply patterns on hard surfaces. The adherence to the Gothic movement in it arose under the impression of sketches in Westminster Abbey.
In 1778, William continued his education at the Royal Academy of Arts. He did not accept the eclecticism offered to his students, choosing the style of the High Renaissance. Blake did not remain within the walls of the educational institution. He began making prints. In 1784, together with his brother Robert and James Parker, the future painter opened a printing house to publish illustrations for books.
Realization of visions
The artist's canvases demonstrate his commitment to fantastic symbolism. To decipher the messages hidden in the canvases, viewers must learn about the time in which the master worked, as much as possible. An acquaintance with the Holy Scripture is also necessary.
According to legend, as a child, William dreamed of angels on a tree, he heard mysterious voices. They pushed Blake to the idea of creating an illuminated seal, where verses accompanied the image. The canvases of the great master are distinguished by the isolation of places, shapes and volumes. At the same time, they are graphic, and the usual canons of composition are violated in them. A striking example is the painting "The Revelations of John the Theologian."
After reading the colorful story about the sacred number, the horsemen of the Apocalypse and the second coming, the painter immortalized everything on canvases. In 1805 and 1810 he created his own versions of The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun. Both are kept in museums. One painting was acquired by the Washington National Gallery, another was bought by the Brooklyn Museum.
The work on "Jacob's Dream" was accompanied by the light of other worlds. Striking subtlety and monochrome distinguish his painting "Angels guarding Christ in the tomb" 1805. The artist painted it in ink and watercolors. In the technique of tempera, the canvas "Adam gives names to animals" is written on the board.
Literature
Blake called the supreme power a great architect or Urizen. The engraving of the same name became an illustration for the book "Europe: Prophecy". The bearer of uniformity measures everything with a compass, striving for the unification of humanity.
In the canvas "Hecate" psychoanalysts saw a rejection of spatial vision, and art critics discovered a violation of the canons of painting. The goddess appears as three figures, not one. Secret signs are located all over the canvas. This is an owl, a symbol of evil and wisdom, and a snake, a keeper of knowledge, and even Hecate herself, looking into the eyes of the tempter.
Blake's literary legacy does not fit into the accepted standards. However, despite the obvious disregard for English philology, for two centuries, fans of romanticism have called these particular poems and prose collections of quotations. Especially colorful lines have long been turned into aphorisms.
The debut collection "Poetic Sketches" was published in 1783. After it there were more optimistic "Songs of Innocence", bitter "Songs of Experience". The artist himself drew illustrations for both books. The works are collected in a single volume, where each poem contrasted with the other in mood and even title. Joe Milton's answer was The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. A watercolor cycle of works was released for her. According to the writer, paradise is an exemplary example of orderliness and rationalism. Evil is a force capable of changing the world. But they are not conceivable separately. Only in their unity is the integrity of the spiritual personality born.
Outcomes
Blake did not recognize obedience, but created a hymn to the presence of God in every destiny and soul "About the grief of a neighbor" to them "Divine image".
The personal life of the figure turned out to be calmer than the creative one. The artist met his chosen one in a difficult time of experiences after the refusal of his former lover from the offer to become his wife. Catherine Boucher became the wife of William in 1782. Her husband received in her person both a faithful friend and muse.
The writer and painter left his life in 1827, on August 12. His last works were illustrations for Dante's poem "The Divine Comedy". In total, over 100 drawings and many sketches have been written for it.
In 1931 the Old Vic premiered the ballet Job: A Masque for Dancing. The source of inspiration for its creators was the 1826 edition with illustrations by William.
In 1949, the Blake Prize was established by the Australian authorities for the master's contribution to religious art.
