William Blake - artist of apocalypse

William Blake was a classic poet, a print artist of incredible technique, a painter of endless imagination, and a visionary beyond his time. Earlier this year Tate Britain exhibited a massive collection of his prolific work and we couldn't wait to feature it here on wonder | wander | world.

Detail of The Great Red Dragon and the Beast from the Sea, c. 1803-5

Blake's work is a stunning mix of mythological, medieval, and modern vision. His art has a lasting power that influenced writers, other artists, designers and filmmakers across the centuries. People see a wealth of meaning in his work, whether hopeful, apocalyptic, beautiful or hellish.

Detail of The Conversion of Saul, c.1800

Part of his ability to draw people into his vision seems to have come simply from his amazing mastery of drawing. With the lightest, easiest lines he could capture the essence of his subject and fill it with a compelling life.

Evening, c. 1820-25

Blake was also a skilled engraver and printer who produced many books. Often he wrote, designed and engraved them himself.

Page from America: A Prophecy, 1793.

Many of these books, including his Songs of Innocence and Experience, were small enough to fit in one hand, making their detail all the more amazing. His famous illustration of his poem 'The Tyger' is smaller than a postcard!

Inside these margins he managed to fit some wonderful detail and expression. The books were like the tiny doors in Alice in Wonderland that opened a glimpse into incredible worlds.

Illustration from The First Book of Urizen, 1794.

His sense of composition and mastery of printing techniques was second to none. He invented an experimental monotype method that combined printing with watercolour painting, producing rich textures with a handmade quality.

Newton, c. 1795-1805

Detail of Newton

He designed and engraved many books for other writers, including pioneering feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.

Original Stories from Real Life, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1791.

His America: A Prophecy traces the theme of revolution, tyranny and freedom from oppression through allegory and graphic symbolism.

William Blake's true longevity lies in his otherworldly visions. Blake's paintings reveal how deeply he thought of the lives that lay beyond his own reality.

An Allegory of the Bible, c.1780-5

His spiritual beings veer wildly from ethereal glory to terrifying aspect, his environments from brutal darkness to illuminated beauty.

The Number of the Beast is 666, c. 1805

Satan in His Original Glory, c. 1805

His art for Milton's Paradise Lost and Dante's trilogy Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso describe a descent from light into the pits of despair and then climbing back up again - a profound allegory of humankind.

Illustration from Purgatorio, 1827

The exhibition called Blake a universal artist, with a reach beyond his time and experience. It was an honour and a pleasure to visit the worlds of his interior life.

Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing, c. 1786.