The Death of Saint Joseph

1803

William Blake

Artist, British, 1757 - 1827

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Thomas Butts [1757-1845], 1803; Thomas Butts, Jr.; Captain F.J. Butts; his widow; sold 1906 through Carfax to W. Graham Robertson [1866-1948]; (his sale, Christie's, London, 22 July 1949, no. 43); (Thomas Agnew and Sons, London). Shaw Kennedy, by 1957. (Thomas Agnew and Sons, London), by 1963. Mr. James Biddle, New York [1929-2005] and Mrs. Louisa Copeland Biddle [later Mrs. Robert Duemling], New York, 1963; Louisa C. Duemling, Washington, DC; gift in 1991 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1876

  • Burlington Fine Arts Club, Exhibition of the Works of William Blake, no. 218

1906

  • Carfax exhibition of works by William Blake, born 1757, died 1827 : 14 June to 31 July, 1906, no. 45.

1913

  • The National Gallery of British Art. Loan Exhibition of Works by William Blake, October to December, 1913, no. 38

1914

  • The Manchester Whitworth Institute. Catalogue of a Loan Collection of Works by William Blake, February to March 1914. No. 39 (Exhibited under the title, "The House of Death, or the Lazar House").

  • Nottingham Castle; Catalogue of a loan exhibition of works by William Blake (1757-1827), April, 1914, No. 39.

1927

  • Burlington Fine Arts Club, Blake Centenary Exhibition, no. 34

1947

  • William Blake, 1757-1827, Galerie Rene Drouin, Paris, no. 25

  • Blake, 1757-1827, The British Council, Tate Gallery, London, 1947, no. 35

1991

  • Art for the Nation: Gifts in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, p.124-125.

1994

  • Bosch e o Eterno Retorn [Bosch and the Eternal Return], Palácio Foz, Lisbon, Portugal, 1994 (catalogue by José-Augusto França, Bosch ou "Le Visionnaire Intergral").

1997

  • Six Centuries/Six Artists, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1997.

Bibliography

1906

  • Russell, Archibald G._ The Letters of William Blake _London: Metheun & Co., 1906: 117-124.

1922

  • Binyon, Laurence, _ The Drawings and Engravings of William Blake. _ London: The Studio, Limited, 1922: 21-22, No. 49.

1925

  • Figgis, Darrell, _The Paintings of William Blake. _ London: Ernest Benn, Limited, 1925: 72-73, No. 53.

1952

  • Preston, Kerrison, _ The Blake Collection of W. Graham Robertson. _ London: Faber and Faber. LTD, 1952: no. 62, 158-159.

1956

  • Bentley, Jr, G. E., “Thomas Butts, White Collar Maecenas,”_ PMLA _71.5 (1956): 1052-1066.

  • Keynes, Geoffrey_ The Letters of William Blake. _London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1956: 86-90.

1957

  • Keynes, Geoffrey_ William Blake’s Illustrations to the Bible: a catalogue. _ Boissia, Clairvaux, Jura, France: Trianon Press for the William Blake Trust, 1957: 172.

1959

  • Blunt, Anthony, _ The Art of William Blake. _ New York, Evanston, San Francisco, and London: Harper and Row, 1959: 108.

1968

  • Raine, Kathleen_ Blake and Tradition Vol. I. _New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1968: 413-412.

1969

  • Bentley, Jr, G. E._ Blake Records. _ Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969: 570-571.

1971

  • Gage, John, “Blake’s Newton,”_ Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes _34 (1971): 372-377, pg 375.

1972

  • Keynes, Geoffrey_ Blake Complete Writings. _London: Oxford University Press, 1972: 823-826.

1974

  • Mellor, Anne Kostelanetz_ Blake’s Human Form Divine. _Berkely and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1974: 193-197.

1977

  • Bindman, David_ Blake as an Artist. _Oxford: Phaidon, 1977: 132-139.

1981

  • Butlin, Martin. _ The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake _. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981: 365-366.

1990

  • Butlin, Martin_ William Blake 1757-1827. _London: Tate Gallery Collections, 1990: 122.

  • Johnson, Mary Lynn, “David’s Recognition of the Human Face of God in Blake’s Design for the book of Pslams,” in_ Blake and his Bibles _edited by David V. Erdman, pgs. 117-156. Connecticut: Locust Hill Press, 1990: 119-120.

1991

  • _ Art for the Nation: Gifts in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art _. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1991: p.124.

2013

  • Kelly, Franklin. "William Blake, The Death of Saint Joseph." National Gallery of Art Bulletin no. 49 (Fall 2013): 22-23 (color).

Inscriptions

lower left in pen and black ink: WB inv 1803

Wikidata ID

Q64636570

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