While he lived in London his entire life, except for three years spent in Felpham, he produced a diverse and symbolically rich œuvre, which embraced the imagination as 'the body of God' or 'human existence itself'.Īlthough Blake was considered mad by contemporaries for his idiosyncratic views, he is held in high regard by later critics for his expressiveness and creativity, and for the philosophical and mystical undercurrents within his work. In 2002, Blake was placed at number 38 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. His visual artistry led 21st-century critic Jonathan Jones to proclaim him 'far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced'. What he called his prophetic works were said by 20th-century critic Northrop Frye to form 'what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language'. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. Today in history William Blake was born 266 years ago today William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker.
