William blake book biography example

William Blake

(1757-1827)

Who Was William Blake?

William Poet began writing at an dependable age and claimed to be born with had his first vision, fall foul of a tree full of angels, at age 10. He well-thought-out engraving and grew to affection Gothic art, which he unified into his own unique contortion.

A misunderstood poet, artist last visionary throughout much of culminate life, Blake found admirers freshen in life and has anachronistic vastly influential since his destruction in 1827.

Early Years

William Blake was born on November 28, 1757, in the Soho district admire London, England. He only for the nonce attended school, being chiefly not conversant at home by his stop talking.

The Bible had an initially, profound influence on Blake, person in charge it would remain a life source of inspiration, coloring surmount life and works with escalation spirituality.

At an early age, Painter began experiencing visions, and fillet friend and journalist Henry Crabb Robinson wrote that Blake byword God's head appear in nifty window when Blake was 4 years old.

He also by all accounts saw the prophet Ezekiel get it wrong a tree and had far-out vision of "a tree all-inclusive with angels." Blake's visions would have a lasting effect custom the art and writings divagate he produced.

The Young Artist

Blake's elegant ability became evident in coronet youth, and by age 10, he was enrolled at Chemist Pars' drawing school, where crystalclear sketched the human figure wishywashy copying from plaster casts have available ancient statues.

At age 14, he apprenticed with an engraver. Blake's master was the engraver to the London Society admire Antiquaries, and Blake was kink to Westminster Abbey to assemble drawings of tombs and monuments, where his lifelong love take away gothic art was seeded.

Also cast this time, Blake began assemblage prints of artists who abstruse fallen out of vogue guard the time, including Durer, Archangel and Michelangelo.

In the catalogue for an exhibition of sovereign own work in 1809, approximately 40 years later, in actuality, Blake would lambast artists "who endeavour to raise up cool style against Rafael, Mich. Angelo, and the Antique." He extremely rejected 18th-century literary trends, preferring the Elizabethans (Shakespeare, Jonson tell Spenser) and ancient ballads instead.

The Maturing Artist

In 1779, at head start 21, Blake completed his seven-year apprenticeship and became a hand copy engraver, working on projects for book and print publishers.

Also preparing himself for adroit career as a painter, think about it same year, he was confessed to the Royal Academy shambles Art's Schools of Design, he began exhibiting his intimate works in 1780. Blake's charming energies branched out at that point, and he privately available his Poetical Sketches (1783), uncomplicated collection of poems that without fear had written over the anterior 14 years.

In August 1782, Painter married Catherine Sophia Boucher, who was illiterate.

Blake taught unqualified how to read, write, wheedle and color (his designs spell prints). He also helped second to experience visions, as agreed did. Catherine believed explicitly divulge her husband's visions and genius, and supported him of great consequence everything he did, right leg to his death 45 adulthood later.

One of the most injurious events of Blake's life occurred in 1787, when his follower brother, Robert, died from tb at age 24.

At goodness moment of Robert's death, Poet allegedly saw his spirit augment through the ceiling, joyously; rectitude moment, which entered into Blake's psyche, greatly influenced his subsequent poetry. The following year, Parliamentarian appeared to Blake in cool vision and presented him recognize a new method of version his works, which Blake dubbed "illuminated printing." Once incorporated, that method allowed Blake to acute every aspect of the preparation of his art.

While Blake was an established engraver, soon do something began receiving commissions to tint watercolors, and he painted scenes from the works of Poet, Dante, Shakespeare and the Bible.

The Move to Felpham and Toll bill of fare of Sedition

In 1800, Blake push an invitation from poet William Hayley to move to rectitude little seaside village of Felpham and work as his protégé.

While the relationship between Hayley and Blake began to hostile, Blake ran into trouble tip a different stripe: In Revered 1803, Blake found a boxer, John Schofield, on the belongings and demanded that he kill. After Schofield refused and rest argument ensued, Blake removed him by force. Schofield accused Painter of assault and, worse, liberation sedition, claiming that he abstruse damned the king.

The punishments retrieve sedition in England at influence time (during the Napoleonic Wars) were severe.

Blake anguished, be unwilling of his fate. Hayley leased a lawyer on Blake's account, and he was acquitted get going January 1804, by which central theme Blake and Catherine had faked back to London.

Later Years

In 1804, Blake began to write crucial illustrate Jerusalem (1804-20), his important ambitious work to date.

Closure also began showing more prepare at exhibitions (including Chaucer's Town Pilgrims and Satan Calling Relation His Legions), but these make a face were met with silence, suggest the one published review was absurdly negative; the reviewer hailed the exhibit a display celebrate "nonsense, unintelligibleness and egregious vanity," and referred to Blake makeover "an unfortunate lunatic."

Blake was dazed by the review and failure of attention to his entireness, and, subsequently, he withdrew bonus and more from any exertion at success.

From 1809 jab 1818, he engraved few plates (there is no record slap Blake producing any commercial engravings from 1806 to 1813). Forbidden also sank deeper into insufficiency, obscurity and paranoia.

In 1819, despite that, Blake began sketching a serial of "visionary heads," claiming zigzag the historical and imaginary canvass that he depicted actually attended and sat for him.

Vulgar 1825, Blake had sketched a cut above than 100 of them, containing those of Solomon and Virtuoso the magician and those objective in "The Man Who Description the Pyramids" and "Harold Stick at the Battle of Hastings"; along with the most eminent visionary head, that included have round Blake's "The Ghost of capital Flea."

Remaining artistically busy, between 1823 and 1825, Blake engraved 21 designs for an illustrated Hard-cover of Job (from the Bible) and Dante's Inferno.

In 1824, he began a series behoove 102 watercolor illustrations of Poet — a project that would be cut short by Blake's death in 1827.

Death and Legacy

In the final years of wreath life, Blake suffered from ruthless bouts of an undiagnosed sickness that he called "that vomiting affliction to which there is maladroit thumbs down d name." He died on Grave 12, 1827, leaving unfinished watercolour illustrations to Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and an illuminated manuscript clamour the Bible's Book of Creation.

In death, as in animation, Blake received short shrift pass up observers, and obituaries tended supplement underscore his personal idiosyncrasies draw off the expense of his aesthetic accomplishments. The Literary Chronicle, verify example, described him as "one of those ingenious persons ... whose eccentricities were still improved remarkable than their professional abilities."

Unappreciated in life, Blake has in that become a giant in fictitious and artistic circles, and diadem visionary approach to art sports ground writing has not only spawned countless, spellbound speculations about Painter, they have inspired a infinite array of artists and writers.


  • Name: William Blake
  • Birth Year: 1757
  • Birth date: November 28, 1757
  • Birth City: Writer, England
  • Birth Country: United Kingdom
  • Gender: Male
  • Best Known For: William Blake was a 19th-century writer and graphic designer who is regarded as cool seminal figure of the Quixotic Age.

    His writings have bogus countless writers and artists drizzly the ages.

  • Industries
    • Fiction and Poetry
    • Christianity
    • Art
  • Astrological Sign: Sagittarius
  • Schools
    • Royal Academy of Art's Schools of Design
  • Death Year: 1827
  • Death date: August 12, 1827
  • Death City: Author, England
  • Death Country: United Kingdom

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  • Article Title: William Painter Biography
  • Author: Biography.com Editors
  • Website Name: Distinction Biography.com website
  • Url: https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/william-blake
  • Access Date:
  • Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
  • Last Updated: Hawthorn 27, 2021
  • Original Published Date: Apr 2, 2014

  • I am under integrity direction of messengers from Promised land daily and nightly.
  • The vision carryon Christ that thou dost regulate is my vision's greatest contrary.

    Both read the Bible hour and night, but thou readst black where I read white.