An era of originality and innovation
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A radical artist and poet, William Blake combined his paintings, drawings and engravings with original, epic poetry to define a romantic world ruled by fantasy and imagination. This major exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland, organized in collaboration with Tate, presents some of Blake’s most iconic works alongside paintings and drawings by contemporaries, among them Henry Fuseli, J.M.W. Turner and Thomas Rowlandson, to showcase a period of extraordinary originality in late-18th and early 19th-century art. Mostly overlooked during his own life except by a small circle of devoted supporters, not to mention in the century following his death, Blake’s reputation surged in the 20th century as scholars and biographers reintroduced him to a wider audience. The first exhibition in Ireland to focus on Blake’s transcendent vision is a rare opportunity to see works outside of Tate’s comprehensive collection — a chance to encounter the spiritual intensity, gothic imagery and ecstatic energy that still make Blake astonishing today.
William Blake, “Satan Smiting Job with Boils,” c.1826. Presented by Miss Mary H. Dodge through the Art Fund, 1918; photo by Tate
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