William Blake's World at the Morgan Library

In his life, William Blake was a lot of things --- engraver, poet, illustrator, extremist, moralist, visionary, draftsman, painter, printmaker, nutjob. The selection of his work currently on view at the Morgan, titled A New Heaven Is Begun, showcases them all.

Blake claimed to reside in the Imagination. Maybe that’s true, or maybe he just lived in that place where all confident artists must dwell, a place that allows (or causes) them to assert that what they’ve created is actually real. What comes through most fiercely from the watercolors, drawings, engravings, and other materials is this very confidence, an assertion that what he’d portrayed not only mattered but was, that America was a woman and a powerful man watched over all, that we are ourselves miracles and therefore capable of miraculous things.

Photo: thanks