Blake
Published by the Yale Center for British Art
Hardcover, 136 Pages, 113 color illus.
ISBN 9780300284577
Elizabeth Wyckoff
With a contribution by Sarah T. Weston
Publication date: September 30, 2025
Description
William Blake (1757–1827) stands alone as a towering figure in both British art and literature. The mythic, spiritual, and pastoral themes of his visual art and poetry influenced contemporaries such as Samuel Palmer and John Linnell and have served as sources of inspiration for modern-day luminaries like Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, R. Crumb, and Patti Smith.
The second book in the YCBA Collection Series (following Turner), Blake showcases the breadth and depth of the museum’s holdings, featuring exquisite reproductions of this visionary artist’s paintings, watercolors, and prints, and selections from his illuminated books, including the only fully hand-colored copy of the epic poem Jerusalem. The publication also offers essays by Elizabeth Wyckoff, Curator of Prints and Drawings, and the literary scholar and art historian Sarah T. Weston that explore Blake’s biography, poetry, painting, and printmaking and use digital humanities research to highlight his unique artistic process in a manner that will engage the general reader and the expert alike.
This publication coincides with the exhibition William Blake: Burning Bright at the Yale Center for British Art from August 26 – November 30, 2025.
