Peter blake pop artist biography

Although he had a younger brother and sister, he claims he was always "a solitary child" who was "extremely shy". He experienced a disruption in his education when his family was evacuated during the Second World War. At age 14 he began attending the Gravesend Technical College Junior Art School where he learned creative foundations such as life drawing skills, typography and joinery.

It was there that he was first introduced to highbrow culture such as fine art and classical music. However, he never lost touch with his working-class roots, continuing to pursue interests in jazz clubs, football, speedway, and wrestling, as well as remaining close with his mother and aunt. When he was 17, Blake had a serious cycling accident, which changed the way he looked.

Peter blake pop artist biography: Peter Blake (British, b)

He remembers, "I knocked out four teeth and had 35 stitches - my mum didn't recognize me when she came to the hospital. Blake originally applied to the Royal College of Art as a graphic designer. He sent one painting in with his portfolio, and on the basis of it he was accepted into the painting course instead. This encouraged Blake to start looking to popular culture for the subjects of his art.

He says, "from about I realized that I could paint the subjects I liked such as wrestlers and strippers and the rest of it. While studying at the RCA, he wrote a dissertation about nude performances in the music hall scene. In the middle of the s, music halls were diminishing in popularity, so its participants tried to increase attendance by including naked women; however, they weren't allowed to move, but instead had to stand still throughout the show.

At the end of his studies, Blake was granted a scholarship to travel for a year. He notes that most people used this time to study traditional artworks or peters blake pop artist biography, such as "the light on north Italian chapels", whereas he went rogue, focusing on the exploration of popular art. Rather than visiting museums, Blake attended bullfights, football and wrestling matches and even traveled with the circus for a couple of weeks.

Returning inBlake got various jobs teaching art and drawing, and began to focus on building his practice and body of work. Blake began mixing in with the social circles that would come to produce Pop art. In he attended a dinner party hosted by Lawrence Alloway, an art critic and important member of the Independent Group of burgeoning British Pop artists that originated at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London.

It was reportedly in response to Blake's statement about his artistic intentions that Alloway became one of the first people to use the term "Pop art". The show was vital in launching the careers of several younger members of the Pop art scene, and Blake's work was shown alongside that of David Hockney and RB Kitaj. In the same year, he received the John Moores prize and his work was consequently featured in the first edition of the Sunday Times color supplement.

Although by this point Blake's work was receiving relatively wide attention from the art world, he was introduced to the public through a BBC television program made in called "Pop Goes the Easel". InBlake found representation by Robert Fraser, the notorious art dealer who was later arrested with Mick Jagger for drug possession. This put Blake at the center of the swinging scene of s London alongside leading figures of popular culture.

At the end of the s, after the closure of Fraser's gallery, Blake moved to Wellow, Avon a small village near Bath with his wife, fellow artist Jann Haworth, whom he had married earlier, in There he formed a group named The Ruralists that pursued a different, more naturalistic style of painting. Blake received a great deal of negative publicity for leaving the creativity and havoc of London behind.

At the time, Blake created many images of fantasy and myth including many works that depicted fairies. His time here ended after his wife began a relationship with someone else and asked for a divorce. It was an incredibly painful process for Blake, who shared two daughters with Jann, prompting his move back to London where he met his second wife Chrissy Wilson.

Blake's life blossomed again in London, breathing second life into his career. He spent time in Los Angeles with fellow artist David Hockney, which inspired him to revisit earlier collage techniques and modern subject matter. He was made a member of the Royal Academy in During the s, Blake did a residency at London's National Gallery.

Peter blake pop artist biography: Biography. Sir Peter Thomas Blake

This was an important time for him and the evolution of his art. He later recalled, "every day when the museum closed and the guards had gone, I'd spend an hour or so wandering around on my own. InBlake talked about retiring as he craved a retreat from the competitiveness and obsession that had infiltrated the art market. He continues to draw, paint and create multimedia works today.

Peter blake pop artist biography: Sir Peter Thomas Blake CBE RDI

Unlike many artists, Blake felt the need to define his own late period, which for him marked the era from the late s up to the present day. He coined this, "a time when an artist can do almost anything they want. It doesn't have to relate to the earlier work if you don't want it to and it is a wonderful feeling of freedom. Usually other people decide when your Late Period is or was, but rather than wait for anyone else, I've decided very consciously to have mine now.

He continues to work prolifically, often on collaborative and design-based projects. Inhe was knighted for his services to art, an honor of which he is very proud. Blake's influence can be seen in the work of many Pop artists, including American Pop artist Andy Warhol. His work is inspired by his love affair with icons and the ephemera of popular culture.

Peter Blake became a Royal Academician ina CBE in and in received a knighthood for his services to art. Retrospectives of Blake's work were held at the Tate in and Tate Liverpool in He graduated inreceived a Leverhulme Research Award to study popular art, and travelled extensively, drawing inspiration as he roamed. Sir Peter Blake's fondness for popular culture can be clearly seen in much of his eclectic collages and silk screen prints with images of Marilyn Monroe mixing with Mona Lisa.

Since his emergence in the early s as a key member of the burgeoning Pop Art movement, Peter Blake has been one of the best-known British artists of his generation. According to Blake, he chose all of the objects in the picture at random, but the sleeves of Sgt. Pepper's and Definitely Maybe were in the back of his mind. He claims, "It's using the mystery of Definitely Maybe and running away with it.

Blake revealed that the final cover wasn't the original which featured an image of the shop 'Granny Takes a Trip' on the Kings Road in Chelsea, London.

Peter blake pop artist biography: Peter Blake was.

Blake created an updated version of Sgt. Pepper —with famous figures from Liverpool history—for the campaign for Liverpool to become European Capital of Culture inand created a series of prints to celebrate Liverpool's status. A fan of Chelsea Football ClubBlake designed a collage to promote the team's home kit in He also designed a shopping bag for the Lucky Brand Jeans company for the holiday season.

As he approached his 80th birthday, Blake undertook a project to recreate the Sgt. Pepper album cover with images of British cultural icons of his life that he most admires. Blake became a Royal Academician in The permanent exhibition features 20 examples of Blake's album sleeve art, including the only public showing of a signed print of his Sgt.

Pepper's artwork. Blake was married to the American-born artist Jann Haworth from toand they had two daughters together, Liberty and Daisy. Blake has lived in ChiswickLondon, since Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikidata item.

English artist born For other people with the same name, see Peter Blake disambiguation. DartfordKentEngland. Jann Haworth. Chrissy Wilson. Early life [ edit ]. Career [ edit ]. You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails. Sir Peter Blake. Works Biography. View works. He became widely acclaimed for creating the album cover for the Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in" I wanted to make an art that was the visual equivalent of Pop Music".