William Blake 'Dante running from the Three Beasts', (1824-1827) illustration for The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (Inferno I, 1-90) pen and ink and watercolour over pencil and black chalk 37.3 x 52.8 cm (sheet) Butlin 812.1; Butlin & Gott 3 National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Felton Bequest, 1920 988-3
Keynote Lecture: William Blake in the 21st century
This lecture introduces Blake as artist, poet, and prophet by mapping his attempts radically to transform traditional understandings of the book, from the Songs of Innocence (1789) to the Laocoön engraving (c.1815). The interactive, open-ended, multi-media forms he created are a radical response to the modern, commercial culture of Romantic-era London; yet, as I will suggest, these same forms also seem at home in the early 21st century, where they gesture towards ideals often promised but rarely realised in our now digitally connected world.
Speaker Prof Peter Otto, The University of Melbourne
Date: Saturday 5th April, 2pm
Venue Clemenger BBDO Auditorium, Ground Level
Free. More details here.
There will also be two ‘Curator’s Perspective’ floor talks in the exhibition space by Cathy Leahy, Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings at 12:30pm and 3:30pm on Saturday 5th April.
About the Exhibition
This exhibition will showcase the NGV’s acclaimed collection of works by William Blake which includes spectacular watercolours, single prints and illustrated books. Due to the material’s light sensitivity, these works are only infrequently exhibited and the exhibition provides the rare opportunity to see the Gallery’s complete holdings of Blake’s work which span his full career, from his earliest to his latest years.
The exhibition runs from 4th April - 24th August at NGV International, 180 St Kilda Rd, Ground Floor. Entry is free. More detail here.