Illuminated Printing: William Blake and the Book Arts
Monday, March 2, 2015 - Friday, September 18, 2015
William Blake (1757-1827) was a British poet, painter, engraver, and printer. Blake developed an unorthodox method of printmaking called relief etching, which he referred to as “illuminated printing.” Using this process, Blake created such powerful works as The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Blake’s practices of crafting a dialog between text and image and controlling all aspects of book production are reflected in the individualist spirit of today’s book arts. This exhibit includes examples from the Special Collections of the Haas Family Arts Library of work by contemporary artists who have been influenced by William Blake’s legacy.
This exhibition is a companion to the first major collaborative exhibition between the Yale University Art Gallery and the Yale Center for British Art: The Critique of Reason: Romantic Art, 1760–1860, on view at the Yale University Art Gallery from March 6 - July 26, 2015. The Haas Family Arts Library actively supports arts-area research by members of the Yale, national, and international communities.
This exhibition was curated by Patricia Guardiola as part of her project for the 2014-2015 Kress Fellowship in Art Librarianship.