Antique

A gallery dedicated to the British Romantic poet and artist William Blake opened in San Francisco on 14 October. It is the first space to focus on his art since 1793, when Blake himself privately organised a show of his paintings in Lambeth, London—but failed to sell a single work.John Windle, a California-based bookseller who has dealt in Blake’s work since the late 1960s—and who recites Blake’s poetry on a whim, and has “sold more Blake than Blake ever did”—says that creating The William Blake Gallery was a lifelong goal. When Windle was a teenager, he developed a crush on the daughter of Jacob Branowski, a late British mathematician and William Blake scholar, who introduced him to her father’s books. Since then, “I can’t remember a single day that I have not been involved with Blake’s pictures, philosophy or writings—it became my life, even though she and I only became good friends”, Windle told The Art Newspaper.



The Complaint of Job (recto, around 1785)

The gallery opened with a survey show titled Always in Paradise: a William Blake Chrestomathy (due to close next spring) comprising around 50 original works of art and writings. Included are seven works by the artist that remain in private hands, such as The Virgin Mary Hushing the Young John the Baptist (1799), done in the pen and ink tempura, and an original wash drawing titled The Complaint of Job (around 1885). The latter was done in preparation for the 22 engravings that form the prophetic “graphic novel” Book of Job (1825-26), which is represented in the show with eight original plates.Windle says he has around 300 to 400 works by Blake in his inventory that will be displayed in future shows, adding that Blake’s work is still somewhat affordable for collectors. “Really fine” examples of Blake’s prints can cost anywhere from 450,000 to $2m-$3m—“something peculiar when you consider how much a Koons goes for”, Windle says.


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