Blake illustrated—Simeon Solomon

In my previous post I suggested that George Henry Edwards (in 1882) was the first artist to illustrate a poem by William Blake (apart from Blake himself, or a facsimilst or copyist). He's still the first, but between Edwards and the Vale Press in 1897, there is also Simeon Solomon with a pencil drawing, "From W. Blake's Songs of Innocence", in 1886.





Simeon Solomon, From W. Blake's "Songs of Innocence", 1886, Priv Coll, pencil, 180x260mm.
(Sotheby‘s, 2008, Lot 11).



Simeon Solomon (1840-1905) was a friend and associate of Rossetti and Burne-Jones, who is said to have described him as "the greatest artist of us all: we are all schoolboys compared with you". Solomon enjoyed early success but his career was effectively destroyed in 1873 when his homosexuality became public knowledge. The major Pre-Raphaelites, such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, obsessed as they were with Blake, never, as far as I am aware, produced any paintings or drawings directly illustrating his poems. Only Simeon Solomon, once a minor Pre-Raphaelite, who had broken with the movement, or it had broken with him, long before 1886.

Further reading

Blake's shadow: William Blake and his artistic legacy. Introduction by Colin Trodd.—Manchester Whitworth Art Gallery c2007.—19 p. : ill. ; 21 cm.
Catalogue of an exhibition held The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, 26 January—20 April 2008.