George Cumberland's Card
1827
Medium
engraving in black
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.8983
Art Historical Context
**George Cumberland's Card** (1827) is a delicate engraving in black ink by the visionary artist William Blake, one of final works created just months before his death. Produced as a personal calling card for his close friend George Cumberland, an English antiquarian and art patron, this small print exemplifies Blake's generosity in crafting bespoke pieces for loved ones. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's Rosenwald Collection it invites visitors to appreciate the intimate side of a towering Romantic figure. Blake, a pioneer of the Romantic movement, revolutionized printmaking with techn...
About the Artist
William Blake · 1757–1827
William Blake (1757–1827) stands as one of the most visionary and unconventional artists in British history, a poet-painter-printmaker whose mystical imagination and radical vision profoundly shaped the Romantic movement. Born in London's Soho district, Blake experienced visions from childhood—claiming to see angels in trees at age eight—and these spiritual encounters would guide his art throughou...