Tate Britain; William Blake 1809

Tate Britain have re-staged William Blake's 1809 first and only solo exhibition, reuniting nine of his surviving works 200 years after they were first displayed.

Tate Britain have culminated this event via loans from the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, to mark the 200th anniversary of this exhibition that was once displayed at his brother's shop on Golden Square, Soho, in May 1809.

Sadly with many great artists, musicians/performers and authors fame is not apparent till the death of the said individual, Blake was no exception with his original show being poorly attended and receiving one review in the press; negative.

Blake is now recognised as the literary idol of the Romantic Age and viewing these works reminded me exactly why that was.

I note Blake for his 'Songs from Innocence and Experience' prose and illustrations, much of my own personal work to date is heavily influenced by his songs, so my knowledge of his other collections was minimal - I'd read excerpts of 'The Marriage of Heaven and Hell'; 'Prisons are built from the stones of law, brothels the bricks of religion'

The work which stood out for me was 'Jacob's Ladder' (see right image), illustrated beautifully with a heavenly aura. Not religious but immensely interested in religion, how it's interpreted worldwide in particular the stories such as Jacob's Ladder; a ladder to heaven described in the Book of Genesis. Fascinating to see a visual representation.

Although a short specialist collection, it was certainly worth a visit for my interest in Blake however another exhibition currently on at Tate Britain that's heavily displayed is Turner's artwork and future exhibitions consist of Yorkshires Henry Moore and what sounds to be really interesting - 'British Comic Art'


The Blake Exhibition at Tate Britain runs from 20th April - 4th October 2009.