New exhibition to celebrate William Blake's relationship with Sussex comes to Petworth House

The Sea of Time and Space, 1821, Pen and ink and watercolour on paper

A major new exhibition at the National Trust’s Petworth House is the first of its kind to celebrate William Blake’s relationship with Sussex. Some of Blake’s greatest works from poetry to painting will be displayed at Petworth House in West Sussex this winter. This exhibition is the first to bring together for display many of the works that were inspired by his experience living in Sussex.

Sussex remains the only area outside of London that Blake ever lived, spending three years in Sussex from 1800 to 1803 with his wife Catherine, renting a cottage in Felpham that he described as ‘the sweetest spot on Earth’. Petworth will re-unite Blake’s works made during his time at Felpham along with later pieces that were informed by the landscapes of the Sussex coast and countryside.

The exhibition will include extraordinary works by Blake on loan from the British Museum, National Portrait Gallery and Tate. These will be combined with three paintings by Blake from the Petworth collection and a fourth on loan from the National Trust’s Arlington Court, Devon.

This new exhibition has particular significance to Petworth. Elizabeth Ilive, mistress and then wife to George Wyndham, the 3Earl of Egremont, commissioned Blake to paint The Last Judgement, 1808 and Satan calling up his Legions, c. 1800-1805, both of which are usually displayed in the mansion. The Last Judgement is of particular significance given that the watercolour likely features Elizabeth ascending to Heaven with her six children beside an artist that may represent Blake.

These two paintings will be displayed alongside a third painting by Blake, Characters from Spenser’s Faery Queen, 1825, purchased by the Earl of Egremont from the artist’s widow as a philanthropic gesture.

Petworth House and Gardens

The inclusion of Blake’s work at Petworth stands as the only example of his work within an English country house collection. This suggests the patrons had a forward thinking taste in art which led them to commission visionary paintings from an artist largely unheard of during his own lifetime, considered mad by his contemporaries and someone who had been tried for sedition. Elizabeth Ilive’s role also demonstrates a revolutionary woman of the period by taking an active role in commissioning artists.

Andrew Loukes, Exhibitions Manager, said: 'William Blake in Sussex is not only a subject of great local interest but also of national cultural significance, not least because the famous lines that were later adopted for the song Jerusalem were written in the county.

'It’s very exciting to be mounting the first exhibition to re-unite many of Blake’s Sussex-related works, especially at Petworth – the only great English country house to hold major paintings by the artist.'

An unmissable addition to the exhibition, on loan from the British Museum, will be the hand coloured relief etching of Blake’s illustrated epic poem Milton, of which only four are still in existence. Written and illustrated between 1804-1811, the preface to Milton, ‘And did those feet in ancient time’ was adopted for the anthem Jerusalem.

One of the illustrations for display from the poem depicts Blake’s conception of Milton; a spirit of John Milton, the author of Paradise Lost, in the shape of a comet landing on the foot of Blake. A second illustration, of the cottage at Felpham, overtly references Blake’s experiences in Sussex, with the text ‘In Felpham I saw Visions of Albion.’

Blake’s The Sea of Time and Space, 1821, a watercolour of a stormy coastal scene will also be a part of the exhibition. Discovered at Arlington Court above a wardrobe in the housemaid’s pantry when the house was given to the National Trust in 1947, little is known of how – or why – it came to be there.

Alongside this will be a parallel exhibit showing the original drawings by the author and President of the Blake Society, Philip Pullman, made for the internationally acclaimed His Dark Materials books that echo John Milton’s epic Paradise Lost. These chosen illustrations will feature as part of an immersive experience in the Red Room using projections, sound and text to connect these Miltonian works within the wider context of the exhibition.

Early booking is recommended for William Blake in West Sussex: Visions of Albion, at Petworth from 13 January to 25 March. Entry is by pre-booked, timed tickets only, which are on sale from 5 October from www.nationaltrust.org.uk/petworth or 0344 249 1895. £12 for National Trust members or £16 for non-members, ticket includes entry to the gardens, parkland and selected rooms in the house.

The exhibition will take place between 13th Jan - 25 Mar 2018.