Product Overview
In this richly illustrated portrait, a prize-winning biographer surveys the entire sweep of William Blakes creative work while telling the story of his life
William Blake, overlooked in his time, remains an enigmatic figure to contemporary readers despite his near canonical status. Out of a wounding sense of alienation and dividedness he created a profoundly original symbolic language, in which words and images unite in a unique interpretation of self and society. He was a counterculture prophet whose art still challenges us to think afresh about almost every aspect of experiencesocial, political, philosophical, religious, erotic, and aesthetic. He believed that we live in the midst of Eternity here and now, and that if we could open our consciousness to the fullness of being, it would be like experiencing a sunrise that never ends.
Following Blakes life from beginning to end, acclaimed biographer Leo Damrosch draws extensively on Blakes poems, his paintings, and his etchings and engravings to offer this generously illustrated account of Blake the man and his vision of our world. The authors goal is to inspire the reader with the passion he has for his subject, achieving the imaginative response that Blake himself sought to excite. The book is an invitation to understanding and enjoyment, an invitation to appreciate Blakes imaginative world and, in so doing, to open the doors of our perception.
William Blake, overlooked in his time, remains an enigmatic figure to contemporary readers despite his near canonical status. Out of a wounding sense of alienation and dividedness he created a profoundly original symbolic language, in which words and images unite in a unique interpretation of self and society. He was a counterculture prophet whose art still challenges us to think afresh about almost every aspect of experiencesocial, political, philosophical, religious, erotic, and aesthetic. He believed that we live in the midst of Eternity here and now, and that if we could open our consciousness to the fullness of being, it would be like experiencing a sunrise that never ends.
Following Blakes life from beginning to end, acclaimed biographer Leo Damrosch draws extensively on Blakes poems, his paintings, and his etchings and engravings to offer this generously illustrated account of Blake the man and his vision of our world. The authors goal is to inspire the reader with the passion he has for his subject, achieving the imaginative response that Blake himself sought to excite. The book is an invitation to understanding and enjoyment, an invitation to appreciate Blakes imaginative world and, in so doing, to open the doors of our perception.
