William Blake (1757–1827) was an English 🏷️#poet, 🏷️#painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. He produced a diverse and symbolically rich œuvre, which embraced the imagination as "the body of God" [6] or "human existence itself". [7]
Although Blake was considered mad by contemporaries for his idiosyncratic views, he is held in high regard by later critics for his expressiveness and 📝creativity, and for the philosophical and mystical undercurrents within his work. A committed Christian who was hostile to the Church of England (indeed, to almost all forms of organized religion), Blake was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the French and American Revolutions. Despite known influences, the singularity of Blake's work makes him difficult to classify.
Reflections
"Blake] Lived amid ridicule and died in relative obscurity, then went on to inspire generations of artists. He was a [lifelong muse to Maurice Sendak and a kind of creative patron saint for Patti Smith. He produced stunning art for Milton’s Paradise Lost and labored over his drawings for Dante’sDivine Comedy until his dying day. Centuries later, his verses continue to quench an immutable existential thirst." ~ 📝Maria Popova
Blake is a] "glorious luminary" and "a man not forestalled by predecessors, nor to be classed with contemporaries, nor to be replaced by known or readily surmisable successors." ~ [William Michael Rossetti, 19th-Century Scholar
Reads
William Blake’s Most Beautiful Letter: A Searing Defense of the Imagination and the Creative Spirit