(Above) William Blake, The First Book of Urizen, Plate 7, Small Book of Designs Copy B (1796 / circa 1818). Tate
Exhibition: William Blake etchings at Romantics, Tate Britain, London, until December 31 2012
The story of how eight “missing” William Blake etchings have come to make up part of Tate’s Britain’s new Romantics’ re-hang, having been bought for the nation last year, is one to celebrate, causing plenty of excitement as art lovers welcome their arrival into the much-loved national collection.
The eight etchings were originally given to Blake’s widow, Catherine. When she gave them to a friend, their whereabouts became unknown. During the 1970s they were found inside a railway timetable placed amongst a pile of second-hand books. The etchings were offered as set and acquired in a deal aided by generous help from The Art Fund, Tate Members, Tate Patrons and private donations.
Six of the eight etchings are plates from The First Book of Urizel in 1794. These etchings depict varied scenes, each with a moral sentiment that is imbued with a feeling of hopelessness towards the humanity which surrounded Blake.
Figures push and tear at the etching plates that contain them, signalling a desire for freedom and escape from their surroundings. In First Book of Urizel, pl. 23, an old man carrying a red orb is watched by a lion in the shadows. The man appears to be leaning against the side of the etching, the weight of the world lying in his outstretched hand.
The remaining etchings are taken from his The Marriage of Heaven and Hell work and the poem, The Book of Thel. The male and female figures are reminiscent of other Blake motifs; The softly-curved figure of a woman clutching herself next to a man curled up on the floor shows the simplest expression of emotion.
To the casual viewer there is an opacity in the full story behind each etching. What is clear is the intended emotion – not for the viewer necessarily, but for Blake as he made the work. For this reason, Blake’s delicately-executed etchings remain hard to look at.
They were all made in around 1790, and are hung along a single wall, each etching smaller than one piece of A4 paper.
Presented in their original binding, a set of small holes show where the binding once ran along the left-hand side of the paper. Numbers, softly sketched in pencil, indicate a sequence for the works. Only one etching has been obviously hung (The Book of Thel, pl. 7), with diagonal frame lines still visible at each corner.
Each etching is accompanied by a line of Blake’s poetry, such as “I sought pleasure and found pain” or “Unutterable”. These often-bleak sentiments are a reminder, lest the viewer forget, of a depth of feeling extending beyond what we immediately perceive from the works.
Myth, fantasy and exploration consistently underpin these raw etchings. They may pose more questions about the meaning of his creations, but they also further Blake’s reputation as one of Britain’s best Romantic artists.
Admission free. Open 10am – 6pm (10pm first Friday of every month).
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