The Wood of the Self-Murderers: The Harpies and the Suicides 1824 - 1827

Curator: Gaze upon "The Wood of the Self-Murderers: The Harpies and the Suicides" by William Blake, held here at the Tate. The dimensions are roughly 37 by 53 centimeters. Editor: The scene is eerily dreamlike; I see bodies becoming trees under the gaze of these... are they harpies? The watercolor has a haunting, almost decaying quality. Curator: Blake’s imagery is deeply rooted in Dante’s Inferno, depicting a circle of hell where suicides are transformed into thorny trees, preyed upon by harpies. Look at the rough texture, the visible brushstrokes. Editor: The materiality speaks volumes. Blake's watercolors, far from being delicate, are almost violently applied here, emphasizing the torment and the forced transformation into something unnatural, like lumber. Curator: Absolutely, and consider the social context. Blake, ever the radical, uses these materials and myth to critique societal despair, reflecting on the soul's self-destruction in a world he found increasingly oppressive. Editor: It's interesting how Blake makes visible the process of artistic labor, but he is also highlighting the real labor and suffering of those displaced by early industrial capitalism. Curator: Indeed. Seeing Blake’s work through this lens transforms our understanding of art’s role in confronting social ills. Editor: I'll never see a watercolor the same way again. It really brings home the idea of artmaking as a powerful social commentary.