Wissenswertes

The Doors took their name (at least in part) from this William Blake line -- "When the doors of perception are cleansed, things will appear as they truly are...infinite.".

Subject of Eliott Hayes' play "Blake: Innocence and Experience," in which Blake was portrayed in Canada by Douglas Campbell and in the U.S. by Gary Houston.

Blake's work was neglected for a generation after his death and almost forgotten by the time Alexander Gilchrist began work on his biography in the 1860s. The publication of the Life of William Blake rapidly transformed Blake's reputation, in particular as he was taken up by Pre-Raphaelites and associated figures, in particular Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Algernon Charles Swinburne. In the 20th century, however, Blake's work was fully appreciated and his influence increased. Important early and mid-20th-century scholars involved in enhancing Blake's standing in literary and artistic circles included S. Foster Damon, Geoffrey Keynes, Northrop Frye, David V. Erdman and G. E. Bentley Jr.

While he lived in London his entire life, except for three years spent in Felpham,he produced a diverse and symbolically rich collection of works, which embraced the imagination as "the body of God"or "human existence itself".

His visual artistry led 21st-century critic Jonathan Jones to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced".

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.

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".

In 2002, Blake was placed at number 38 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.

Although 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. His paintings and poetry have been characterised as part of the Romantic movement and as "Pre-Romantic". In fact, he has been said to be "a key early proponent of both Romanticism and Nationalism".

He was an English poet, painter, and printmaker.