Contemplate if you will a mind ablaze with visions. That mind belonged to William Blake poet and artist. This plaque commemorates his life and work. He was born in London in 1757. Blake remained a Londoner for nearly 70 years. He died just off the Strand.
William Blake’s London was a source of inspiration. It also represented social injustice. Despite hating the city’s misery he needed London. Only in London could he pursue his visionary studies. Only there could he see visions and dream dreams.
Blake’s early life began in Soho at 28 Broad Street. His father ran a hosiery shop there. Young Blake roamed freely in the countryside beyond Soho. He stayed at Broad Street until 1782. Then he moved with his new wife Catherine.
After Blake’s father died his eldest brother took over the hosiery business. Blake moved next door. He started as a print seller with James Parker. Twenty-five years later Blake held his only solo exhibition there. Sadly the show was not a success.
Broad Street is now Broadwick Street. William Blake House is on the site. Surviving old houses on Broadwick Street show what Blake’s house looked like.
Blake was christened at St James’s Church. The church was built by Christopher Wren. Ironically it stands opposite Isaac Newton’s former residence. Blake scorned Newton’s philosophy for ignoring the spiritual.
At age 10 Blake attended Mr Pars’s drawing school. The school stood on the North Side of the Strand. The address no longer exists.
In 1771 Blake apprenticed to engraver James Basire. He was only 14. Engraving offered a better living than painting. Blake stayed with Basire for seven years. The workshop was located at 31 Queen Street.
Basire was official engraver to the Society of Antiquaries. He sent Blake to draw ancient tombs in Westminster Abbey. Blake climbed onto the tombs to draw them better. Working there inspired Blake’s gothic aesthetic. It also influenced his unique philosophy. There is a monument to William Blake in Poet’s Corner.
Blake admired James Barry’s murals at the Royal Society of Arts. Barry was Blake’s teacher at the Royal Academy. Blake felt kinship with Barry. Both were outsiders who defied artistic fashions.
Blake became a student at the Royal Academy in 1779. He exhibited his work there several times. The Academy granted Blake money due to his distress in the 1820s.
After marrying in 1782 Blake moved to Green Street. Leicester Square was a fashionable residence for artists. William Hogarth and Sir Joshua Reynolds had lived there. Blake lived there only two years. Green Street no longer exists.
Blake moved to 28 Poland Street after his partnership dissolved. He invented his revolutionary printmaking technique there. This allowed him to combine text with image. The house was rebuilt in the late nineteenth century.
From 1791 to 1800 Blake lived at 13 Hercules Buildings in Lambeth. He produced Songs of Experience there. Lambeth transformed into a slum. It mirrored the London described in Blake’s poem.
From 1800 to 1803 Blake lived in Felpham. He returned to London and resided close to Tyburn. Blake referenced Tyburn in his prophetic book Jerusalem.
From 1821 until his death in 1827 Blake lived in Fountain Court. He produced Illustrations to Dante’s Divine Comedy and The Book of Job there. Fountain Court no longer exists.
Blake married Catherine Boucher in St Mary’s Church Battersea. They remained married for 45 years. On his deathbed Blake called her an angel.
William Blake died on 12 August 1827. He was buried in Bunhill Fields. A monument to Blake was unveiled there in 2018.
Paolozzi’s Newton stands in front of the British Library. It is modeled on Blake’s Newton. Blake could not forgive Newton for omitting a spiritual dimension from his theories.