Newly discovered William Blake etchings to go on show at Tate Britain's new Romantics display.
Tate Britain has just announced that 11th August 2010 will see the launch of Romantics, a new display of works by the likes of Constable, Turner and William Blake to be housed in the Clore Galleries, re-opening after a major rehang. Over 170 paintings, prints and photographs are to spread across nine rooms in a comprehensive exploration of the origins, attitudes and lasting effects of the British Romantic artists.
The main draw is the unveiling of eight hand-coloured etchings by William Blake, purchased by Tate Collection earlier this year. The works were believed to have been lost until, extraordinarily, they turned up inside a railway timetable in a box of second-hand books purchased from a local sale in the late 1970s. The anonymous owner offered the works to Tate in a single group for £441,000.
With its opening designed to coincide with the anniversary of Blake's death, Romantics will include all eight etchings: six from bizarre prophetic work The First Book of Urizen, one from the mythological poem The Book of Thel and one from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, probably one of the greatest (and most underrated poems ever published).
As well as these works by Blake and others by Constable, Turner, John Linnell and Samuel Palmer, the display will also include two rooms that explore the continued legacy of the Romantics through pieces by the likes of Paul Nash, Graham Sutherland.
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Image credits:
William Blake
The First Book of Urizen, Plate 12 Small Book of Designs, Copy B 1796/c.1818
Colour printed relief-etching finished in pen and ink and watercolour on wove paper
Image 153 x 103mm on paper 257 x 184 mm.
William Blake
The First Book of Urizen, Plate 17 Small Book of Designs, Copy B 1796/ c.1818
Colour printed relief-etching finished in pen and ink and watercolour on wove paper
Image 148 x 91 mm on paper 258.5 x 181mm.
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