From this month, the J. Paul Getty Museum opens its doors on the highly anticipated exhibition, William Blake: Visionary. Running from October 17, 2023, to January 14, 2024, the exhibition offers a rare glimpse into the visionary world of one of the most enigmatic and influential artists of the Romantic era.The J. Paul Getty Museum along with Tate has curated an extensive collection of Blake's masterpieces, showcasing over 100 works that span the artist's career in both commercial printmaking and original art.
The exhibition was originally due to open in 2020 but was delayed because of COVID. According to Timothy Potts, Maria Hummer-Tuttle and Robert Tuttle Director of the Getty Museum, “Radical, fantastical, and unforgettable, Blake’s works will make visitors feel they have been transported to another world.”
The exhibition begins with Blake's work as a commercial printmaker, engraving commissions that were to be his main source of income throughout his life. From this, it moves through selections from his famous illuminated books, including one of the finest colored copies of Blake’s illuminated book, America a Prophecy, which retells the story of the American Revolution. The exhibition also includes his tempera of The Ghost of a Flea, which has not been exhibited outside the UK for many decades.
Complementing the exhibition is an augmented reality experience, United Visions, created by Australian artists Tin&Ed, as well as free public lectures on Blake. A catalogue of the exhibition, William Blake: Visionary, is also available, compiled by the curators Edina Adam and Julian Brooks, with an essay by Matthew Hargreaves.
William Blake: Visionary at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, October 17, 2023 to January 14, 2024.