William Blake and the Age of Aquarius

One of the most stunning books of art I have ever seen and read. I highly suggest this book to everyone.---Anna Maria Polidori, Al Femminile William Blake and the Age of Aquarius is the most intriguing book on Blake since Marsha Keith Schuchard's expose of him as a swinger.---Dominic Green, The Spectator The works of William Blake gradually but conclusively made its way into the poetry of Allen Ginsberg, the principles of Jim Morrison and The Doors, incantations from Van Morrison, and the religious work of Bob Dylan. Indeed, Blake has been everywhere and nowhere at the same time, perhaps just as he would have wanted it to be. William Blake and the Age of Aquarius--a beautiful volume published in conjunction with Northwestern University's Block Museum of Art exhibition of the same name--wonderfully, strikingly, fantastically puts this formidable artist/ poet/ visionary into a logical context. . . . Those familiar with William Blake's work will welcome the considerations of his legacy as seen through visual and auditory art since the mid-20th century through today. Those unfamiliar with Blake should still be fascinated by how the man's work has drifted through the ages without losing much of its power. No reader of this book will come away from it unmoved and indifferent to the potential of the artistic sensibility as it comes to terms with light, dark, and everything in between.---Christopher John Stephens, PopMatters In 1948, in a Spanish Harlem apartment, the Beat poet Allen Ginsberg had an auditory hallucination of Blake reciting 'Ah Sun-flower!' and other mind-altering verses. That vision changed Ginsberg's life, and Blake became a touchstone figure for many radical American artists of the 1950s and his destroy-all-tyrants radar continued to burn through the 1960s. It would certainly find appropriate targets today, as is confirmed by this excellent book, the catalog for an exhibition at the Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University.---Holland Cotter, New York Times Honorable Mention for the 2018 PROSE Award in Art Exhibitions, Association of American Publishers One of the The New York Times Best Art Books of 2017, chosen by Holland Cotter One of the The New York Times Best Art Books of 2017, chosen by Holland Cotter Honorable Mention for the 2018 PROSE Award in Art Exhibitions, Association of American Publishers William Blake and the Age of Aquarius is the most intriguing book on Blake since Marsha Keith Schuchard's expose of him as a swinger. --Dominic Green, The Spectator In 1948, in a Spanish Harlem apartment, the Beat poet Allen Ginsberg had an auditory hallucination of Blake reciting 'Ah Sun-flower!' and other mind-altering verses. That vision changed Ginsberg's life, and Blake became a touchstone figure for many radical American artists of the 1950s and his destroy-all-tyrants radar continued to burn through the 1960s. It would certainly find appropriate targets today, as is confirmed by this excellent book, the catalog for an exhibition at the Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University. --Holland Cotter, New York Times The works of William Blake gradually but conclusively made its way into the poetry of Allen Ginsberg, the principles of Jim Morrison and The Doors, incantations from Van Morrison, and the religious work of Bob Dylan. Indeed, Blake has been everywhere and nowhere at the same time, perhaps just as he would have wanted it to be. William Blake and the Age of Aquarius--a beautiful volume published in conjunction with Northwestern University's Block Museum of Art exhibition of the same name--wonderfully, strikingly, fantastically puts this formidable artist/ poet/ visionary into a logical context. . . . Those familiar with William Blake's work will welcome the considerations of his legacy as seen through visual and auditory art since the mid-20th century through today. Those unfamiliar with Blake should still be fascinated by how the man's work has drifted through the ages without losing much of its power. No reader of this book will come away from it unmoved and indifferent to the potential of the artistic sensibility as it comes to terms with light, dark, and everything in between. --Christopher John Stephens, PopMatters One of the most stunning books of art I have ever seen and read. I highly suggest this book to everyone. --Anna Maria Polidori, Al Femminile