Landscape near Felpham

Landscape near Felpham from around 1800 is a rare landscape subject in Blake's predominantly figurative and visionary oeuvre. Blake lived in the Sussex village of Felpham from 1800 to 1803, his only extended period outside London, and this painting records the pastoral surroundings that inspired some of his most lyrical poetry. Characteristic of the artist's mature approach, the work displays linear, flame-like figures combining Michelangelesque anatomy with Gothic energy, vivid color in his illuminated books, personal mythological imagery of Albion, Los, Urizen, and the Eternals.

The modest landscape is rendered with a directness unusual in Blake's work, the naturalistic observation of the Sussex countryside providing a counterpoint to his more typical visionary compositions.