Art News

First major William Blake exhibition opens at Russia’s Pushkin State Museum of Fine Art

MOSCOW.- An exhibition of the work of the innovative British artist, William Blake (1757-1827), opened at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Art, Moscow. William Blake and British Visionary Art is the first major exhibition to present Blake’s visual art in Russia. It is the first exhibition to explore Blake and his legacy and it will run until 19 February 2012. The exhibition is a collaborative project between Tate and the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Art in partnership with the British Council. Drawn mainly from Tate’s Collection alongside works generously lent from other British collections, the exhibition consists of approximately 110 of Blake’s works, including many of his best known images such as The Ghost of a Flea c.1819-20. It also includes the recently discovered hand-coloured etchings from the major prophetic work The First Book of Urizen 1796 c.1818. Although mainly overlooked during his lifetime, Blake’s i