William Blake

1757 – 1827

English artist, draughtsman, engraver, philosopher, and poet, one of the most remarkable figures of the Romantic period. From childhood he possessed visionary powers, and the engraving of Joseph of Arimathea, done at the age of 16, shows him already using a personal symbolism to express his mystical philosophy. His apprenticeship (1772-79) to the engraver James Basire (1730-1802), for whom he made drawings of the monuments in Westminster Abbey and other London churches, led him to a dose study of Gothic art and intensified his love of linear design and formal pattern.

5 artworks in collection