The “Madness” of William Blake

[摘要] William Blake (1757–1827) was a Londoner. He started his artistic education by joining a London drawing school. His parents could not afford to send him to study painting, and instead he became an apprentice to the master engraver James Basire. However, after completing the apprenticeship he did study for a period at the London Royal Academy. He eventually became an accomplished printer–engraver (1–3).In his art, similarly to the Florentines in the Renaissance, Blake emphasized line rather than color. He was interested in the classical forms, in Michelangelo and Dürer. As an apprentice, he was sent to sketch the gothic tombs of the kings at Westminster Abbey, and their style also influenced his future art. Importantly though, throughout his artistic career he believed that imagination was far more important than realistic rendering. Blake was also a poet, self-educated in literature. He started writing very early, around the age of 12. In 1783 a book of his poems, The Poetical Sketches , was published, funded by his friends.He lived in a …

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