William Blake (1757-1827)

From 11 September 2019 to 2 February 2020, the London museum will present the "largest survey of work by William Blake in the UK for a generation", through over 300 "rarely seen" pieces, says the press release. It will notably reveal the active role of his wife Catherine in his works' production. 

The late Bristolian artist William Arkle, a painter of luminous landscapes described as the West country's answer to William Blake, is honored in a new gallery. It is located inside the home of the artist's son Nick Arkle, and his wife Tara and contains over 300 works. (BBC)

The British sculptor Cathie Pilkington, who entered the Royal Academy in 2014 and has been teaching sculpture at the venerable institution's school since 2015, has taken over as director. The Royal Academy's alumni include such prestigious names as William Blake and JMW Turner.

Historic England, the government heritage agency, has added 130 sites to the 2021 Heritage at Risk register that are threatened by neglect, decay or building developments. Among them is William Blake’s 17th-century thatched cottage where he wrote Jerusalem, the hymn that has become a symbol of hope and national pride.

The British painter broke his auction record with a drawing entitled, Philemon’s Conversation with Xenocrates. Estimated between €800/1200, the drawing sold for €103,040 with Oxio, in France. Barry was considered a pioneer of British romanticism and is said to have influenced William Blake.

This lavish English replica of the great Louis XIV cabinetmaker’s iconic chest of drawers attests to the Victorian "Boulle revival".

Alexis Blake, an American artist who works in Amsterdam, has won the Prix de Rome Arts, the oldest and most generous award in the Netherlands for visual artists under the age of 40 (it began in 1808 under the patronage of the invading Louis Napoleon). Blake won the award for a live performance that explores mourning.

The Scottish sculptor and painter William Turnbull (1922-2012) is famous for his figurative and minimalist sculptures. Here it takes the form of a woman reflecting the vocabulary of primitive idols.

After remaining with the painter's descendants for many years, this unique group of works from his studio illustrated his virtuosic ability to capture expression and feeling, with a grand total of €431,360.

William Turnbull (1922-2012), a minimalist and figurative sculptor, has made few appearances at auction in France. On June 25 at Drouot, under the hammer of Kâ-Mondo, his Female Figure (1989) fetched €215,338. A French record for this friend of both Giacometti and Brancusi.