Schama On Blake

Timed to coincide with Tate’s major Blake exhibition starting on September 11th 2019, Simon Schama presents his own view of the visionary printmaker, poet and painter.

Taking a less well-travelled route to Blake, Simon Schama considers William Blake the artist and his early ambition to become a grand history painter. We see how the absolute failure of that ambition led to Blake’s retreat into a more idiosyncratic and eccentrically mystical world – and to the creation of the Blake Romantic myth that persists to this day.

Produced by Susan Marling

Broadcast Date: 9th September 2019