William Blake at Tate Britain

The big exhibition at Tate Britain is all about William Blake, the artist, poet, printer and mystic who was largely overlooked in his lifetime but now has almost mythic status. Born in the mid 1700s and working through into the early 1800s, he predates the Romantic period but is related to it. Blake doesn't really fit comfortably within any particular movement and he stands largely on his own. That does him no harm at all but does present challenges to curators of exhibitions in trying to present 'this is Blake'.

We all know some Blake. You might say 'who?' but you've heard 'Jerusalem', Blake's great poem set to music, and most people will have heard of 'Tyger, tyger burning bright in the forests of the night'. I bought a replica copy of his 'Songs of Innocence and Experience' nearly 40 years ago and that introduced me to Blake's art as well as his poetry since his original books were fully illustrated.

The exhibition is full of pages from his books with his tiny spiderish writing and lovely illustrations. There are lots of editions of his books in glass cases, both small and very large, lots of prints in black and white and in colour, full size plates and paintings but nothing large because he didn't produce large works. That's both a joy and a problem for the exhibition.

Since the vast majority of the exhibits are relatively small, probably averaging about A4 size, then it means there are a lot of exhibits. It also means that you need to get quite close to see them properly and that's a problem in a busy exhibition since there's a queue to see most things, especially in the first few rooms. Luckily, I'm a magpie at exhibitions and go with what catches my eyes rather than religiously following everything on the walls.

Blake was working in the early days of mass produced printed materials so a lot of the exhibits illustrate his printed works. The novel as an art form was still in its infancy, newspapers and journals were starting and the population was becoming more literate so it must've been an exciting time to be involved with printing and the new techniques being developed. He produced loads of stuff but little of it was popular at the time. He illustrated Bible stories, Shakespeare's and Dante's poetry, his own invented mythologies, contemporary science, all sorts. He lived in an age of revolutions in France and America, great political changes across Europe and the creation of a city-based working class. It was all going on back then and Blake had a finger in many pies.

His works are constantly dramatic - there's nothing mundane or pedestrian about his vision and that gave rise to his reputation as a mystic. Whether that's 'Satan Smiting Job with Sore Boils' (above) or the 'Rout of the Rebel Angels' (left). You won't see this kind of imagery  in other artists and that's part of the attraction of Blake. He invented his own artistic language rather than using the traditional, inherited forms of presenting stories in paint or whatever the medium. His depiction of the human body is instantly recognisable, whether naked or clothed, but it's often his compositions that intrigues. Look again at his 'Satan Smiting Job' and don't you think that could almost be a super-villian in a Marvel comic or film attacking the good guy? It's all about the drama, it's showing a triumphant Satan with all his power inflicting pain. Because he can. And that could be you if you're not careful.

There's a series of Blake's small paintings to illustrate his vision of Dante's 'Inferno'. I particularly liked his painting of 'Beatrice Addressing Dante' with it's delicate use of colour and almost etherial feel. The griffin drawing the chariot is fab. I want a griffin. His background colour-washes are vibrant and colourful and, in a way, remarkably modern. Who ever painted a sky like that, even a sky set in heaven, back in the day? It makes me wish that Blake had painted bigger paintings and used more oils rather than watercolour and ink.

One of the last works in the exhibition is 'The Ancient of Days', the frontispiece to his epic 'Europe'. This is one of Blake's most famous works and shows Urizen measuring the world. It's a small but dramatic piece coloured in inks and watercolour.  It's not quite A4 in size but imagine its power if it were six feet tall in a gilded frame hanging high and this could easily be god creating the world out of chaos. Maybe in Blake's mind it was?

If you're in the area and have a spare hour or so you could do a lot worse than visit this exhibition. It's on until 2 February 2020 so there's plenty of time for you to see it. I'll be going back to see it again.