Watercolour and graphite on paper
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<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/william-blake-39" aria-label="More by William Blake" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">William Blake</a>
Oberon Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing
Presented by Alfred A. de Pass in memory of his wife Ethel 1910
‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’
actions: expressive
actions: postures and motions
adults
arm / arms raised
characters
crown
dance
embracing
fairy
family
female
husband
landscape
leisure and pastimes
literature and fiction
magic and occultism
male
man
music and entertainment
night
nudes
Oberon
objects
people
Puck
religion and belief
religious and ceremonial
sceptre
Shakespeare
smiling
society
times of the day
Titania
tree
wife
woman
wooded
<p>At the end of <span>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</span>, fairy king Oberon and queen Titania make friends again, and Moth, Peaseblossom, Cobweb and Mustardseed dance in a ring, while Puck claps the beat.William Blake’s fairies dance on weightless tiptoes wearing petals, leaves and gauzy dresses. They look human, but are small compared to a tree trunk. The strange, silvery light from the fireflies transforms them into magical beings. Blake’s fairy features and dancing fairy rings helped define how we think of fairies today.</p><p><em>Gallery label, October 2020</em></p>
paper unique watercolour graphite
15 October 2001 – 7 July 2002
2002-07-07
15 October 2001 – 7 July 2002
2002-07-07
2001-10-15
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2001-10-15
William Blake and His Followers
Collection based display
15 February 2003 – 19 October 2003
2003-10-19
15 February 2003 – 15 June 2003
2003-06-15
2003-02-15
Palazzo dei Diamanti (Ferrara, Italy)
16 July 2003 – 19 October 2003
2003-10-19
2003-07-16
Dulwich Picture Gallery (London, UK)
2003-02-15
Shakespeare in Art
Loan-out
15 February 2006 – 1 May 2006
2006-05-01
15 February 2006 – 1 May 2006
2006-05-01
2006-02-15
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2006-02-15
Gothic Nightmares: Fuseli, Blake and the Romantic Imagination
Exhibition
13 June 2009 – 6 September 2009
2009-09-06
13 June 2009 – 6 September 2009
2009-09-06
2009-06-13
Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Library (Preston, UK)
http://www.preston.gov.uk/Category.asp?cat=126
2009-06-13
Fairytale Aesthetic
Loan-out
1 November 2011 – 21 October 2012
2012-10-21
1 November 2011 – 19 February 2012
2012-02-19
2011-11-01
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia)
3 July 2012 – 21 October 2012
2012-10-21
2012-07-03
Fundació “la Caixa” (Madrid, Spain)
2011-11-01
Blake Exhibition
Loan-out
28 November 2011 – 19 February 2012
2012-02-19
1 November 2011 – 15 February 2012
2012-02-15
2011-11-01
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia)
2011-11-28
Blake and British Visionary Art
Loan-out
20 April 2015 – 7 May 2017
2017-05-07
20 April 2015 – 7 May 2017
2017-05-07
2015-04-20
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2015-04-20
William Blake
Collection based display
11 September 2019 – 2 February 2020
2020-02-02
11 September 2019 – 2 February 2020
2020-02-02
2019-09-11
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2019-09-11
William Blake: The Artist
Exhibition
29 October 2024 – 30 September 2025
2025-09-30
30 October 2024 – 2 February 2025
2025-02-02
2024-10-30
Reggia di Venaria Reale (Turin, Italy)
1 September 2025 – 31 January 2026
2026-01-31
2025-09-01
Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest, Hungary)
1 March 2026 – 31 August 2026
2026-08-31
2026-03-01
External
2024-10-29
William Blake and the Age of Romantic Fantasy: British Art & Imagination
Loan-out
Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing
support: 475 × 675 mm
Presented by Alfred A. de Pass in memory of his wife Ethel 1910
<div class="text">
<p>At the end of <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>, fairy king Oberon and queen Titania make friends again, and Moth, Peaseblossom, Cobweb and Mustardseed dance in a ring, while Puck claps the beat.William Blake’s fairies dance on weightless tiptoes wearing petals, leaves and gauzy dresses. They look human, but are small compared to a tree trunk. The strange, silvery light from the fireflies transforms them into magical beings. Blake’s fairy features and dancing fairy rings helped define how we think of fairies today.</p>
</div>

Display caption
2020-10-22T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/blake-oberon-titania-and-puck-with-fairies-dancing-n02686" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N02686</span></a> <b>Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing</b>
<i>c.</i>1785
<br/></p>
<p>N 02686 / B 161
<br/>Pencil and watercolour, irregular 475×675 (18 3/4×26 1/2)
<br/>Presented by Alfred A. de Pass in memory of his wife Ethel 1910
<br/>PROVENANCE Mrs Blake, sold to Francis Cary, sold Christie's 13 March 1895 (16) £3.10.0 bt. Leggatt; Alfred A. de Pass, given 1910 to the Tate Gallery
<br/>EXHIBITED Carfax 1904 (34); Tate Gallery (45), Manchester (52), Nottingham (34) and Edinburgh (37) 1913–14; <i>Shakespeare in Art</i>, Arts Council, April–May 1964 (33); New Haven and Toronto 1982–3 (16, repr.)
<br/>LITERATURE Gilchrist 1863, I, p.366; Rossetti 1863, p.237 no.212, and 1880, p.251 no.240; Blunt 1959, p.10; Gert Schiff, <i>Johann Heinrich Füssli, ein Sommernachtstraum</i> 1961, p.20, pl.13; Merchant in <i>Apollo</i>, LXXIX, 1964, pp.320–2, pl.6 (reprinted in Essick 1973, pp.241–3, pl.66); Martin Butlin, ‘Another Blake Watercolour cleaned at the Tate Gallery’ in <i>Blake Newsletter</i>, VI, 1972–3, p.43; Bindman 1977, pp.37–8, pl.32; Paley 1978, p.20; Butlin 1981, p.61 no.161, colour pl.182; Warner 1984, p.155, pl.89; Baine 1986, p.4
<br/></p>
<p>This <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/w/watercolour" title="Glossary definition for 'Watercolour'"><span>watercolour</span></a> illustrates the closing scene of Shakespeare's <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i>. It is close in style and handling to the three finished watercolours of events from the life of Joseph exhibited at the Royal <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/a/academy" title="Glossary definition for 'Academy'"><span>Academy</span></a> in 1785 (Butlin 1981, nos.155–7, colour pls.183–5); there seems no reason to adopt the slightly later dating of <i>c.</i> 1785–87 proposed by David Bindman (exh. cat. 1982–3, <i>loc.cit.</i>). Two further watercolours showing ‘Oberon and Titania, preceded by Puck’ and ‘Oberon and Titania on a Lily’ are distinct in style and seem to date from the early 1790s (see Butlin 1981, nos.245–6, pls.294–5).
<br/>The watercolour was cleaned and restored to something near its original brilliance in 1973.</p>
<p>
<br/><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Martin Butlin, <i>William Blake 1757-1827</i>, Tate Gallery Collections, V, London 1990
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-09-23T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
actions: expressive actions: postures and motions adults ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ arm / arms raised characters crown dance embracing fairy family female husband landscape leisure and pastimes literature and fiction magic and occultism male man music and entertainment night nudes Oberon objects people Puck religion and belief religious and ceremonial sceptre Shakespeare smiling society times of the day Titania tree wife woman wooded