Watercolor with pen and black ink, graphite and gouache on moderately thick, slightly textured, cream wove paper with inlaid letterpress page
Dimensions:
Sheet: 16 1/2 x 12 3/4 inches (41.9 x 32.4 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Inscribed in black ink upper right: "3"; in graphite upper center: "+ +"; on verso in black ink upper left: "4"; in graphite upper center: "2 x"; in graphite center: "1 X"
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1992.8.11(28)
Classification:
Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
leaf | beard | knights (landholders) | armor | bard | lance | men | religious and mythological subject | feather | ropes | man | women | robe | spear | literary theme | crown (costume component) | horse (animal) | trees | text | vines
Currently On View:
Not on view
Exhibition History:
Art in Focus : Wales (Yale Center for British Art, 2014-04-04 - 2014-08-10)An American's Passion for British Art - Paul Mellon's Legacy (Yale Center for British Art, 2007-04-18 - 2007-07-29)An American's Passion for British Art - Paul Mellon's Legacy (Royal Academy of Arts, 2007-10-20 - 2008-01-27)Paul Mellon's Legacy : A Passion for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2007-04-18 - 2007-07-29)The Human Form Divine - William Blake from the Paul Mellon Collection (Yale Center for British Art, 1997-04-02 - 1997-07-06)
Publications:
John Baskett, Paul Mellon's Legacy: a Passion for British Art: Masterpieces from the Yale Center for British Art, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2007, pp. 275-76, no. 71, pl. 71, N5220 M552 P38 2007 OVERSIZE (YCBA)Colin Cross, Blake revealed, William Blake : Discovery of a Masterwork , Observer, vol. 12, November 21, 1971, pp. 19-23, V 1245 Detached from Observer colour magazinePatrick Noon, A Princely Amateur, Paul Mellon and his Collection of British Drawings , Master Drawings, vol. 38, no. 3, Master Drawings Association, Inc., Fall, 2000, pp. 340-42;, fog. 3, NC1 M37 (YCBA) Another copy available as item VF 2329Paul Mellon's Legacy : a passion for British art [large print labels], , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2007, v. 2, no. 71, N5220 M552 P381 2007 OVERSIZE (YCBA)John Russell, Blake the Craftsman, Art , Sunday Times, Issue no. 7749, December 12, 1971, p. 27, Sunday Times Digital ArchiveArnold Fawcus, Unknown Watercolours by William Blake, Illustrated London News, vol. 259, No. 6881, December 25, 1971, pp. 45-46, 49-51, Illustrated London News Historical ArchiveYale Center for British Art, Wales, New Haven, 2014, p. 21, V2519 (YCBA)
Gallery Label:
Thomas Gray’s poem “The Bard,” published in 1757, imagines a confrontation between the English conqueror Edward I and the last bard of Wales. Edward has ordered the Welsh bards put to death in order to suppress their telling of history. The Bard curses Edward and prophesies his ultimate defeat upon the return of Welsh rule, before throwing himself into the river Conway, a final act of defiance. The poem became extremely popular, helping to create an idea of Welsh mountains as synonymous with liberty. In 1797 and 1798, the visionary artist William Blake created a series of exquisite illustrations to accompany Gray’s text. Some of the most vivid images highlight the narrative trajectory of the poem. The title page presents a composed Bard, draped in robes and holding his harp. As the poem progresses, the Bard develops a frenetic energy, his hair wild and his eyes lit with passion. The final page shows the Bard, barely colored, almost a force of nature, committing suicide in the Conwy. Gallery label for Art in Focus: Wales (Yale Center for British Art, 2014-04-04 - 2014-08-10)