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拍品專文
Blake has taken his inspiration from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act II, Scene 2 and shows Oberon, the fairy king seated on a lily blossom, whilst Titania, his wife, is stretched out asleep on an adjacent flower. Oberon, following an argument with Titania over her refusal to relinquish her page, has just sprinkled her with a potion that will make;
'What thou seest when thou dost wake, Do it for thy true-love take … Be it ounce, or cat or bear, Pard or boar with bristled hair.' (2, 2, 679 – 80 and 2,2 682-3).
A highly finished and richly colored watercolor, this work, dated by Martin Butlin to 1790-93, also served as the basis for a later illustration in The Song of Los, published 1795.
Although Blake did not execute many illustrations to Shakespeare’s work, A Midsummer Night’s Dream must have had particular resonance with the artist, as he made two other watercolors based on the play, both portraying the fairy king and queen: Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing, in the Tate, London and Oberon and Titania, Preceded by Puck in the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington D.C. All are highly finished, richly coloured watercolors and have been dated by Martin Butlin to c. 1785 and c. 1790-3 respectively.
Blake was directly inspired to create this watercolour by a drawing that his younger brother Robert had produced, sometime before his untimely death in 1787. Between 1785 and 1809, William Blake kept a notebook (now known as the ‘Rossetti Manuscript’ and in the British Library) in which he recorded his various ideas, sketches and notes for compositions and even poetry. The notebook was begun by Robert and contains six drawings by him including Titania and Oberon Reclining on a Poppy (see Butlin op.cit, p.86 no. 201 (5)). The pen and ink drawing was less highly finished than William Blake’s composition and shows the fairies from above, both awake, resting on a poppy and with two lily blossoms dangling over their heads. William Blake has transformed the idea, rendering it more sophisticated, filling out the composition and depicting the figures more accurately in relation to Shakespeare’s text.
When Blake worked on the idea for Oberon and Titania for the illustration to The Song of Los, a further transformation of the subject occurred. The forms became larger, the figures more substantial and the overall sentiment more emotional than in the present watercolor. This was conveyed partly through the expression of the figures and partly through the coloring which became hotter and more violent. The Song of Los is the last of a group of three books, known as the Continental Prophecies, published between 1793 and 1795 and is known in only six copies. These books grew out of the intellectual, radical movement in England, influenced by the French and American Revolutions and represent Blake’s own response to these turbulent events. The first two volumes, America and Europe represent what is past, whilst The Song of Los seeks to site the events in the previous volumes in an historical framework. The book is divided into two sections, Africa and Asia, and separating these is Oberon and Titania. Whilst the rest of imagery is full of anxiety and violence, Oberon and Titania is calmer and more pensive. Although various explanations have been offered for the inclusion of this seemingly incongruous subject, its inclusion may perhaps have been simply because, for Blake, the image was associated with goodness and therefore was intended to represent a moment of hope or a harkening back to a better world.
'What thou seest when thou dost wake, Do it for thy true-love take … Be it ounce, or cat or bear, Pard or boar with bristled hair.' (2, 2, 679 – 80 and 2,2 682-3).
A highly finished and richly colored watercolor, this work, dated by Martin Butlin to 1790-93, also served as the basis for a later illustration in The Song of Los, published 1795.
Although Blake did not execute many illustrations to Shakespeare’s work, A Midsummer Night’s Dream must have had particular resonance with the artist, as he made two other watercolors based on the play, both portraying the fairy king and queen: Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing, in the Tate, London and Oberon and Titania, Preceded by Puck in the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington D.C. All are highly finished, richly coloured watercolors and have been dated by Martin Butlin to c. 1785 and c. 1790-3 respectively.
Blake was directly inspired to create this watercolour by a drawing that his younger brother Robert had produced, sometime before his untimely death in 1787. Between 1785 and 1809, William Blake kept a notebook (now known as the ‘Rossetti Manuscript’ and in the British Library) in which he recorded his various ideas, sketches and notes for compositions and even poetry. The notebook was begun by Robert and contains six drawings by him including Titania and Oberon Reclining on a Poppy (see Butlin op.cit, p.86 no. 201 (5)). The pen and ink drawing was less highly finished than William Blake’s composition and shows the fairies from above, both awake, resting on a poppy and with two lily blossoms dangling over their heads. William Blake has transformed the idea, rendering it more sophisticated, filling out the composition and depicting the figures more accurately in relation to Shakespeare’s text.
When Blake worked on the idea for Oberon and Titania for the illustration to The Song of Los, a further transformation of the subject occurred. The forms became larger, the figures more substantial and the overall sentiment more emotional than in the present watercolor. This was conveyed partly through the expression of the figures and partly through the coloring which became hotter and more violent. The Song of Los is the last of a group of three books, known as the Continental Prophecies, published between 1793 and 1795 and is known in only six copies. These books grew out of the intellectual, radical movement in England, influenced by the French and American Revolutions and represent Blake’s own response to these turbulent events. The first two volumes, America and Europe represent what is past, whilst The Song of Los seeks to site the events in the previous volumes in an historical framework. The book is divided into two sections, Africa and Asia, and separating these is Oberon and Titania. Whilst the rest of imagery is full of anxiety and violence, Oberon and Titania is calmer and more pensive. Although various explanations have been offered for the inclusion of this seemingly incongruous subject, its inclusion may perhaps have been simply because, for Blake, the image was associated with goodness and therefore was intended to represent a moment of hope or a harkening back to a better world.