William Blake was a poet, painter, and printmaker who marked the beginning of English Romanticism and is considered a precursor to Surrealism. He was born on November 28, 1757 , in London, England, into a middle-class family, with a merchant father and a religious mother.
In 1771 he began to work as an apprentice in the workshop of the engraver James Basire and later, in 1780, he met the neoclassical sculptor John Flaxman.
In 1782 he married Catherine Boucher, whom he later taught to read, write and make engravings, and was the great support of William Blake throughout his life.
Together with his brother Robert, they opened a printing press in 1784 and began working with the radical publisher Joseph Johnson, which gave him access to many artists, intellectuals and scientists of the time.
In 1788 William Blake began working with the “etching” technique of engraving, using it to illustrate his books of poems. Around 1800 he moved to a country house in Felpham (West Sussex) to make illustrations for another poet.
In 1802 he returned to London and worked for Richard Cromek, who exploited it, to later work with the landscape painter John Linnell.
The poetry of William Blake, inspired by mystical visions, is among the most original and prophetic in the English language, and represents the rejection of the ideas of the enlightened movement in favor of the romantic.
Blake died on August 12, 1827 in London, England.
Outstanding works:
The Ancient of Days (1794)
The Great Red Dragon and woman clothed with the sun (1809)
The body of Abel found by Adam and Eve (1825)
An island on the Moon (1784)
Songs of Innocence (1789)
Visions of Daughters of Albion (1793)
These are some of his best quotes from William Blake
“I don’t have a name: but I was born two days ago. What will i call you I’m happy. My name is joy ”.
“A dead body does not avenge injuries.”
“See a world in a grain of sand and a sky in a wild flower, have infinity in the palm of your hand and Eternity in an hour.”
“No bird rises too high, if it flies on its own wings.”
“A thought fulls the inmensity”.
“Eternity is in love with time creations”.
“The moon, like a flower in the high arch of the sky, with silent delight, settles and smiles at night.”
“Standing water waiting poison”.
“Everything credible is an image of the truth.”
“The soul overflowing with sweet delight will never be profaned”.
“If the fool persisted in his folly, he would become wise.”
“The fox condemns the trap, not himself.”
