WILLIAM BLAKE

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William Blake's Universe
14 June 2024 to 08 Sep 2024 | Special exhibition | Exhibition poster | Dimensions: 59.5 x 84 cm

In summer 2024, the Hamburger Kunsthalle is presenting the astonishing oeuvre of the English draughtsman and graphic artist William Blake (1757-1827), which he created around 1800 against the backdrop of revolution and war in Europe, slavery in the European colonies and oppression in his native Great Britain. Blake's works combine his criticism of the world of the time with a vision of universal redemption. His work is still little known outside of England - his mystical imagery and (dark) literary works still resonate in pop culture today. The exhibition will be the first public presentation of all the Blake holdings of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and the legacy of the well-known Blake collector Geoffrey Keynes. The show presents Blake as a true European, despite never leaving Britain, and relates his work to selected European contemporaries, totalling around 120 works.

It will illustrate key aspects of Blake's art from his classical training at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, through his interest in the art of antiquity and the Renaissance, to his enthusiasm for the mystical imagery of the early modern period, such as that of the German philosopher Jakob Böhme (1575-1674). The exhibition also compares Blake's work with other artists who turned to the visual arts to rebuild the world in the face of devastating political crises: The Romantic Philipp Otto Runge (1777-1810) also strove to visualise the spiritual renewal of mankind in an artistically novel form. Blake's depictions of the soul's journey from fallen state to redemption are also juxtaposed with works by contemporaries such as his younger compatriot Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) and Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) in order to highlight the artistic tensions between individual, national and universal liberation around 1800.

The exhibition ties in with the exhibition cycle "Art around 1800" by former Hamburg Kunsthalle director Werner Hofmann, in which Blake's work was presented in Germany for the first time in 1975.

In the summer of 2024, the Hamburger Kunsthalle will present the astonishing oeuvre of the English draughtsman and graphic artist William Blake (1757-1827), which he created around 1800 against the backdrop of revolution and war in Europe, slavery in the European colonies and oppression in his native Great Britain. Blake's works combine his criticism of the world of the time with a vision of universal redemption. His work is still little known outside of England - his mystical imagery and (dark) literary works still resonate in pop culture today. The exhibition will be the first public presentation of the entire Blake collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and the legacy of the well-known Blake collector Geoffrey Keynes. The show presents Blake as a true European, despite never leaving Britain, and relates his work to selected works by European contemporaries, totalling around 120 works.

It will illustrate key aspects of Blake's art from his classical training at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, through his interest in the art of antiquity and the Renaissance, to his enthusiasm for the mystical imagery of the early modern period, such as that of the German philosopher Jakob Böhme (1575-1674). The exhibition also compares Blake's work with other artists who turned to the visual arts to rebuild the world in the face of devastating political crises: The Romantic Philipp Otto Runge (1777-1810) also strove to visualise the spiritual renewal of mankind in an artistically novel form. Blake's depictions of the soul's journey from fallen state to redemption are also juxtaposed with works by contemporaries such as his younger compatriot Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) and Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) in order to highlight the artistic tensions between individual, national and universal liberation around 1800.

The exhibition ties in with the exhibition cycle "Art around 1800" by former Hamburg Kunsthalle director Werner Hofmann, in which Blake's work was presented in Germany for the first time in 1975.