William Blake Biography

William Blake is an eminent writer, an artist as well as a printmaker of the 19th century who got his recognition much later after his lifetime. Though not many people acknowledge or knew much about William Blake works during his lifespan, but he got his due regards much later and today he is considered as one of the most influential figures of the romantic age. His work and art have inspired many other poets and artists through centuries and even today his works are widely famous and appreciated throughout the world. 

What he usually called his prophetic works that include visual artistry led one of the best critics of the 20th century, Jonathan Jonas, saying about William Blake as the far and greatest artist of all times Britain has ever produced. In the BBC polling for 100 greatest Bitrons, William Blake was designated in the 38th position. Though in most of William Blake biographies it is stated about William Blake - that he was considered peculiar for his quirk views but later those were considered to be highly expressive and creative views that show the philosophical and mystical blends in his work. Except for three years that he spent in Felpham, he resided in London for his entire lifetime and yet his work of arts had manifolds and was so versatile that it enfolds the imagination as a “Figure of God” or “reality of human existence”. Though he studied engraving he found his profound love for Gothic art that he elaborated further with his own unique elements in his artistry. 

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Image: Illustration of William Blake

Early Life of William Blake

Blake was born in the Soho district that is located in England on 28th November 1757. For most of his childhood, he did homeschooling where he was primarily taught by his mother and briefly attained secondary education. At a very early age in his life, he was introduced to the teaching of the bible by his mother, most of his later work was inspired by the bible that has a predominant reflection of spirituality to it that had actually made his art of work unique and extraordinary. 

When he was very young he experienced visions and started hallucinating. When he was 4 he always visioned the head of god emerging from his window as stated by his dear friend and journalist of his time named Henry Cabb Robinson. His journalist friend also stated that he once allegedly had a vision of Prophet Ezekeil under a tree that was full of angels. His vision proved to have an everlasting effect on his work and art for his lifetime.

William Blake as a Young Artist

As his parents came to know about its extraordinary artistry capabilities, they enrolled Blake at Henry Pars’ drawing school at the age of 10. There he used to sketch human figures copying them from the figures of ancient statues that were plaster cast there. When he turned 14, he became an assistant of an engraving artist who was an appointed engraver at the London Society of Antiquaries. Later impressed with his work his master sent him to Westminster Abbey to create art for monuments and tombs. It was at this time that he was exposed to the gothic form of art where he discovered his profound love for gothic art and that became a lifelong inspiration and was reflected in his mature work of art. 

He later started collecting the prints of the work of artists who were put out of trend that included Durer, Raphael and Michelangelo. Almost 40 years later, in the catalogue of exhibitions of his own works in the year 1809, he criticised the artists who have attempted to rise up against the artistry forms of artists such as Rafael, Mich Angelo and their antiques. He also condemned the modern literary style of the 18th century as he could relate himself more closely with the writings of Elizabethans that included Shakespeare, Jonson and Spencer and also the ancient ballads instead of modern pieces of literature of the 18th century.   

William Blake as a Mature Artist

By the age of 21, he completed his seven years of internship in the year 1779 and was appointed as a Journeyman Copy Engraver and started creating arts for the projects of books and print publishings. He wanted to pursue his career as a painter and so in order to prepare himself for the same, he later took admission in the Royal Academy of Art’s schools of design. There he started exhibiting his own original works from the year 1780. His unique art forms started branching out in many varieties and he started publishing his own sketches privately in his Poetical Sketches in the year 1783 which was a compilation of his art and poems that he had written in a span of 14 years prior to this time.

Blake got married to Catherine Sophia Broucher in the year 1782 and she didn’t know how to read and write. But it didn’t change the opinion or the affection he had towards her, so he decided to teach her everything starting from how to read and write, draw and colour and that's how introduced her to his version of artistry. He also helped her to experience the visions that he had throughout his life. The wife of William Blake explicitly believed in his visions and acknowledged his brilliance and genius creations whether that is a writeup or an art form. Steadily she became strong support and strength for Drake as she continued to support him in everything he believed till she died after 45 years of their marriage. 

After this Blake soon encountered another traumatic event in his life in the year 1787 when he lost his brother who was merely 24 years old as he was suffering from tuberculosis. Many of his biographers believed that he started having a vision of his brother ascending from the ceiling, joyfully approaching him a year after his brother’s demise. This vision had such a deep imprint on the writer’s psyche, that it influenced most of his poetry post that time. The following year Robert again appeared in Blake’s vision and offered him a new printing practice in his arts that he later referred to as “ illuminating printing”. As he went on to incorporate the new method of printing, it helped the artist to have a hold on every small little detail of his paintings. Soon he established himself as a renowned engraver. Thus, he started receiving commissions for his paintings and various art and he later drew and painted various scenes from Shakespear, Milton and Dante's plays as well as for the Bible.

Move to Felpham and Charges of Sedation

In 1800, he received an invitation from the writer William Hayley inviting Blake to work with him as his trainee. He immediately accepted the offer and moved to a small village called Felpham along the seaside as his protege. But soon the relationship between the two writers ascended to bitterness and William Blake started falling into troubles in different ways. In August of 1803, Blake came to know about a soldier named John Schofield who was residing in the artist’s property without his information and hence Blake asked him to leave. But after the refusal of the soldier to move out, a heated argument started boiling to an extent that the artist had forcefully removed him. Later he faced legal charges against the soldier for assaulting him and even on a serious note of sedation charge for damning the king. The punishment for the charge of sedation in England at the time of the Napoleonic Wars was very critical and serious. Thereafter, the artist suffered from a lot of mental and physical pain thinking about the uncertainties of his life.  Finally, a lawyer that was hired by Hayley for Blake came to his rescue and he was released in January of 1804. Around this time Blake along with Catherine moved back to London.  

Later Years 

“Jerusalem” which is considered the most ambitious work of Blake to date was started in the year 1804. In this year he first started writing and illustrating for the same. He also started exhibiting his work among which his most famous ones are “ Chaucer’s Canterbury Pilgrims and Satan Calling Up His Legions'' but at that point in time, the artworks were not welcomed and ended in silence with heavy flooding of negative reviews by critics. Blake was heavily devastated and had stopped making any further attempts to commercialise his works. Between 1809 to 1818 he created a few of the marvellous engraved plates but there are no official records of them being displayed or were commercially available. With this, he sank more into paranoia and poverty.

In 1818, he claimed that all the historic and imaginary figures that he illustrated in his series “imaginary heads” had actually descended and sat in front of him. By the year 1825, he illustrated more than 100 figures among which some of them were famous figures like Solomon and Merlin the magician. And the illustration of these personalities was included in the series called “The Man Who Built the Pyramid” and “Harold Killed At The Battle of Hastings”. There were many other visionary illustrations of famous figures that were included in another Blake’s series named “ The Ghost of a Flea”.

Demise and Legacy 

During his final years, he was suffering from a disease that was not able to be diagnosed and thus was called “ a sickness that has no name”. His demise was on 12th August 1827 while he was still working on his illustrations of Bunyan’s Pilgrim's progress and the illuminated manuscript of Genesis Bible Book.

William Blake Life Summary

Basic information about William Blake is as follows:

Name: William Blake

Birthday: 28th November 1757

Birthplace: Soho district, England 

William Blake education: Royal Academy of Art’s schools of design 

Spouse: Catherine Sophia Broucher

Famous for: Visionary artistic works and poems that have a spiritual reflection

Death: 12th August 1827

Famous works: The Man Who Built the Pyramid, Harold Killed At The Battle of Hastings and The Ghost of a Flea 

Though Blake never received his due acknowledgement and appreciation for his works in his lifetime, he was posthumously made the epitome of the literary and artistry world. Many of his visionary artistic works have gained spellbound and countless appreciation and critically acclaimed times and again much later after his demise.