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| MALEVOLENCE |
Blake's friend George Cumberland recommended him to Rev John Trusler an ordained minister who also engaged in pursuits such as teaching, writing, practicing medicine, and promoting various schemes. Blake was to design and execute several paintings illustrating subjects of Trusler's choosing. However Blake felt constrained by Trusler's contrary view of creating images. Apparently Trusler would only be satisfied by an image which faithfully reproduced something which he observed in the world as he experienced it, or was oversimplified as a caricature.
Blake observed the outer physical world, but his art had been processed in his mind before it was transferred to a representation in graphic form. Blake took the opportunity of his correspondence with Trusler and Cumberland to explain his ideas about the purpose and methods of art. As Blake saw it Trusler would have found Michelangelo's art as unacceptable as his own because the master was not portraying what he saw externally but what his mind conceived.
The movie Field of Dreams best captures for me the dichotomy of seeing only what the sense is capable of discerning and the expanded capability of perceiving a vision. The transition between the two capabilities is dramatically illustrated by the players being physical and visible on the ball field, and being invisible and without substance when they step into the corn field. It was not about the nature of the two realities but about one's ability to switch between the two modes of experience. Blake attempted to make the vision which he discerned perceptible to Trusler who seemed to be blind to the reality which expresses itself through imagination.
Letters, (E 701)
"To The Revd Dr Trusler
Hercules Build* Lambeth Aug* 16. 1799
Revd Sir
I find more & more that my Style of Designing is a Species
by itself. & in this which I send you have been compelld by my
Genius or Angel to follow where he led if I were to act otherwise
it would not fulfill the purpose for which alone I live. which is
in conjunction with such men as my friend Cumberland to renew the
lost Art of the Greeks
I attempted every morning for a fortnight together to follow
your Dictate. but when I found my attempts were in vain. resolvd
to shew an independence which I know will please an Author better
than slavishly following the track of another however admirable
that track may be At any rate my Excuse must be: I could not do
otherwise, it was out of my power!
I know I begged of you to give me your Ideas & promised to
build on them here I counted without my host I now find my
mistake
The Design I have Sent. Is
A Father taking leave of his Wife & Child. Is watchd by Two
Fiends incarnate. with intention that when his back is turned
they will murder the mother & her infant--If this is not
Malevolence with a vengeance I have never seen it on Earth. & if
you approve of this I have no doubt of giving you Benevolence
with Equal Vigor. as also Pride & Humility. but cannot previ-
ously describe in words what I mean to Design for fear I should
Evaporate some of the Spirit of my Invention. But I
hope that none of my Designs will be destitute of Infinite
Particulars which will present themselves to the Contemplator.
And tho I call them Mine I know that they are not Mine being of
the same opinion with Milton when he says That the Muse visits
his Slumbers & awakes & governs his Song when Morn purples The
East. & being also in the predicament of that prophet who says I
cannot go beyond the command of the Lord to speak good or bad
If you approve of my Manner & it is agreeable to you. I
would rather Paint Pictures in oil of the same dimensions than
make Drawings. & on the same terms. by this means you will have a
number of Cabinet pictures. which I flatter myself will not be
unworthy of a Scholar of Rembrant & Teniers. whom I have Studied
no less than Rafael & Michael angelo--Please to send me your
orders respecting this & In my next Effort I promise more
Expedition
I am Revd Sir
Your very humble servt
WILLm BLAKE"
Letters, (E 702)
"Revd Dr Trusler, Englefield Green, Egham, Surrey
13 Hercules Buildings,.Lambeth, August 23, 1799
Revd Sir
I really am sorry that you are falln out with the Spiritual
World Especially if I should have to answer for it I feel very
sorry that your Ideas & Mine on Moral Painting differ so much as
to have made you angry with my method of Study. If I am wrong I
am wrong in good company. I had hoped your plan comprehended All
Species of this Art & Especially that you would not reject that
Species which gives Existence to Every other. namely Visions of
Eternity You say that I want somebody to Elucidate my Ideas. But
you ought to know that What is Grand is necessarily obscure to
Weak men. That which can be made Explicit to the Idiot is not
worth my care. The wisest of the Ancients considerd what is not
too Explicit as the fittest for Instruction because it rouzes the
faculties to act. I name Moses Solomon Esop Homer Plato
But as you have favord me with your remarks on my Design
permit me in return to defend it against a mistaken one, which
is. That I have supposed Malevolence without a Cause.--Is not
Merit in one a Cause of Envy in another & Serenity & Happiness &
Beauty a Cause of Malevolence. But Want of Money & the Distress
of A Thief can never be alledged as the Cause of his Thievery.
for many honest people endure greater hard ships with Fortitude
We must therefore seek the Cause elsewhere than in want of Money
for that is the Misers passion, not the Thiefs
I have therefore proved your Reasonings Ill proportiond
which you can never prove my figures to be. They are those of
Michael Angelo Rafael & the Antique & of the best living Models.
I percieve that your Eye[s] is perverted by Caricature
Prints, which ought not to abound so much as they do. Fun I love
but too much Fun is of all things the most loathsom. Mirth is
better than Fun & Happiness is better than Mirth--I feel that a
Man may be happy in This World. And I know that This World Is a
World of Imagination & Vision I see Every thing I paint In This
World, but Every body does not see alike. To the Eyes of a Miser
a Guinea is more beautiful than the Sun & a bag worn with the use
of Money has more beautiful proportions than a Vine filled with
Grapes. The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the Eyes
of others only a Green thing that stands in the way. Some See
Nature all Ridicule & Deformity & by these I shall not regulate
my proportions, & Some Scarce see Nature at all But to the Eyes
of the Man of Imagination Nature is Imagination itself. As a man
is So he Sees. As the Eye is formed such are its Powers You
certainly Mistake when you say that the Visions of Fancy are not
be found in This World. To Me This World is all One continued
Vision of Fancy or Imagination & I feel Flatterd when I am told
So. What is it sets Homer Virgil & Milton in so high a rank of
Art. Why is the Bible more
Entertaining & Instructive than any other book. Is it not
because they are addressed to the Imagination which is Spiritual
Sensation & but mediately to the Understanding or Reason Such is
True Painting and such was alone valued by the Greeks & the
best modern Artists. Consider what Lord Bacon says "Sense sends
over to Imagination before Reason have judged & Reason sends over
to Imagination before the Decree can be acted." See Advancemt of
Learning Part 2 P 47 of first Edition
But I am happy to find a Great Majority of Fellow Mortals
who can Elucidate My Visions & Particularly they have been
Elucidated by Children who have taken a greater delight in
contemplating my Pictures than I even hoped. Neither Youth nor
Childhood is Folly or Incapacity Some Children are Fools
& so are some Old Men. But There is a vast Majority on the
side of Imagination or Spiritual Sensation
To Engrave after another Painter is infinitely more
laborious than to Engrave ones own Inventions. And of the Size
you require my price has been Thirty Guineas & I cannot afford to
do it for less. I had Twelve for the Head I sent you as a
Specimen, but after my own designs I could do at least Six times
the quantity of labour in the same time which will account for
the difference of price as also that Chalk Engraving is at least
six times as laborious as Aqua tinta. I have no objection to
Engraving after another Artist. Engraving is the profession I
was apprenticed to, & should never have attempted to live by any
thing else If orders had not come in for my Designs & Paintings,
which I have the pleasure to tell you are Increasing Every Day.
Thus If I am a Painter it is not to be attributed to Seeking
after. But I am contented whether I live by Painting or
Engraving
I am Revd Sir Your very obedient servant
WILLIAM BLAKE"
Letters, (E 703)
"Mr [George] Cumberland, Bishopsgate,
Windsor Great Park
Hercules Buildings, Lambeth. Augst 26. 1799
Dear Cumberland
I ought long ago to have written to you to thank you for
your kind recommendation to Dr Trusler which tho it has faild of
success is not the less to be rememberd by me with Gratitude--
I have made him a Drawing in my best manner he has sent it
back with a Letter full of Criticisms in which he says it accords
not with his Intentions which are to Reject all Fancy from his
Work. How far he Expects to please I cannot tell. But as I
cannot paint Dirty rags & old Shoes where I ought to place Naked
Beauty or simple ornament. I despair of Ever pleasing one Class
of Men--Unfortunately our authors of books are among this Class
how soon we Shall have a change for the better I cannot Prophecy.
Dr Trusler says
"Your Fancy from what I have seen of it. & I have seen
variety at Mr Cumberlands seems to be in the other world or the
World of Spirits. which accords not with my Intentions. which
whilst living in This World Wish to follow the Nature of
it" I could not help Smiling at the difference between the
doctrines of Dr Trusler & those of Christ. But however for his
own sake I am sorry that a Man should be so enamourd of
Rowlandsons caricatures as to call them copies from life &
manners or fit Things for a Clergyman to write upon
Pray let me intreat you to persevere in your Designing it is
the only source of Pleasure all your other pleasures depend
upon It. It is the Tree Your Pleasures are the Fruit. Your
Inventions of Intellectual Visions are the Stamina of every thing
you value. Go on if not for your own sake yet for ours who love
& admire your works. but above all For the Sake of the Arts. Do
not throw aside for any long time the honour intended you by
Nature to revive the Greek workmanship. I study your outlines as
usual just as if they were antiques.
As to Myself about whom you are so kindly Interested. I
live by Miracle. I am Painting small Pictures from the Bible.
For as to Engraving in which art I cannot reproach myself with
any neglect yet I am laid by in a corner as if I did not Exist &
Since my Youngs Night Thoughts have been publishd Even Johnson &
Fuseli have discarded my Graver. But as I know that He who Works
& has his health cannot starve. I laugh at Fortune & Go on &
on. I think I foresee better Things than I have ever seen. My
Work pleases my employer & I have an order for Fifty small
Pictures at One Guinea each which is Something better than mere
copying after another artist. But above all I feel myself happy
& contented let what will come having passed now near twenty
years in ups & downs I am used to them & perhaps a little
practise in them may turn out to benefit. It is now Exactly
Twenty years since I was upon the ocean of business & Tho I laugh
at Fortune I am perswaded that She Alone is the Governor of
Worldly Riches. & when it is Fit She will call on me till then I
wait with Patience in hopes that She is busied among my Friends.
With Mine & My Wifes best compliments to Mr Cumberland
I remain
Yours sincerely
WILLm BLAKE"
This is for those who may be confused by Blake's use of the word 'Fancy.'
synonym
study for fancy
9. Fancy, fantasy, imagination refer to qualities in literature or other artistic composition. The creations of fancy are casual, whimsical, and often amusing, being at once less profound and less moving or inspiring than those of imagination: letting one's fancy play freely on a subject; an impish fancy. Fantasy now usually suggests an unrestrained or extravagant fancy, often resulting in caprice: The use of fantasy in art creates interesting results. The term and concept of creative imagination are less than two hundred years old; previously only the reproductive aspect had been recognized, hardly to be distinguished from memory. “Creative imagination” suggests that the memories of actual sights and experiences may so blend in the mind of the writer or artist as to produce something that has never existed before—often a hitherto unperceived vision of reality: to use imagination in portraying character and action.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fancy
An image or representation of anything formed in the mind. Synonyms: conception, thought, idea
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