William Blake (1757 - 1827). William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker who is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of Western art and literature. Blake's work as an artist was characterized by his innovative use of visual and poetic language to express his unique visionary ideas. Blake's art was heavily influenced by his religious and spiritual beliefs, as well as his interest in mythology, mysticism, and the occult. He often combined text and image in his works, creating complex and layered pieces that reflected his philosophical and spiritual ideas. Blake's visual art is known for its vivid and imaginative style, which often featured bold colors, intricate designs, and fantastical figures. He worked in a variety of mediums, including watercolor, engraving, and relief etching, a technique he developed himself. Some of Blake's most famous works as an artist include Satan Smiting Job and Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing. His illustrations for his own poems, such as Songs of Innocence and of Experience, are also highly regarded for their innovative use of visual and poetic language. Blake's art was not widely recognized during his lifetime, and he struggled financially throughout his career. However, his influence on later generations of artists and writers has been significant, and he is now widely regarded as a visionary and innovative figure in the history of Western art.William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. What he called his prophetic works were said by 20th-century critic Northrop Frye to form what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language. His visual artistry led 21st-century critic Jonathan Jones to proclaim him far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced. In 2002, Blake was placed at number 38 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. While he lived in London his entire life, except for three years spent in Felpham, he produced a diverse and symbolically rich oeuvre, which embraced the imagination as the body of God or human existence itself. 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. His paintings and poetry have been characterised as part of the Romantic movement and as Pre-Romantic. A committed Christian who was hostile to the Church of England, Blake was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the French and American Revolutions. Though later he rejected many of these political beliefs, he maintained an amiable relationship with the political activist Thomas Paine; he was also influenced by thinkers such as Emanuel Swedenborg. Despite these known influences, the singularity of Blake's work makes him difficult to classify. The 19th-century scholar William Michael Rossetti characterised him as 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 Blake was born on 28 November 1757 at 28 Broad Street in Soho, London. He was the third of seven children, two of whom died in infancy. Blake's father, James, was a hosier. He attended school only long enough to learn reading and writing, leaving at the age of ten, and was otherwise educated at home by his mother Catherine Blake. Even though the Blakes were English Dissenters, William was baptised on 11 December at St James's Church, Piccadilly, London. The Bible was an early and profound influence on Blake, and remained a source of inspiration throughout his life.
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