William Blake (1757-1827) was a English painter, engraver, poet, and mystic, a leading figure in the Romantic period.

Short Biography:

His visionary, symbolic poems include Songs of Innocence in 1789 and Songs of Experience in 1794. He engraved the text and illustrations for his works and hand-coloured them, mostly in watercolour. He also illustrated works by others, including the poet Milton, and created a highly personal style.

He was born in Soho, London, and apprenticed to an engraver (1771-1778). Blake illustrated the Bible, works by Dante and Shakespeare, and his own poems. His figures are heavily muscled with elongated proportions.

In his later years he attracted a group of followers including Samuel Palmer, who called themselves the Ancients.

Henry Fuseli was another admirer. Blake's poem Jerusalem in 1820 was set to music by Charles Parry (1848-1918).

Why is William Blake famous?

William Blake was a English painter and leading figure in the visual arts of the Romantic Age.

William Blake Lists

	William Blake
	1757 births
	1827 deaths
	Artist authors
	English vegetarians
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	English painters
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	English Swedenborgians
	Christian mystics
	Mythopoeic writers
	People from Soho
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	Romantic artists
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	Writers who illustrated their own writing
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Tags: poet, figure, symbolic poet, poems, arts

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Category: Painters  - ( Painters Archive)

Date Added: 26 October '11

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