BLAKE, PETER (British, b. 1932)

Peter Blake is one of the leading lights of the pop art movement of the 1960s. His iconic design for the cover of the Beatles' album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ensured he transcended the art world - his work took pride of place in the homes of millions of record-buyers.
Blake studied at Gravesend School of Art before being accepted into the prestigious Royal Academy of Art, London. He graduated in 1956, having completed his National Service, and went off travelling the world, drawing inspiration as he roamed.
Andy Warhol is often cited as the founder of pop art but in fact Sir Peter created his Captain Webb Matchbox before Warhol's soup tin paintings used consumer products as art. Sir Peter's first brush with fame came when he was featured in Ken Russell's seminal film Pop Goes the Easel, which was shown on the BBC in 1962. He became an art teacher, tutoring at various art schools, where one of his earliest protégées was the late singer Ian Dury, who became a close friend.
The father of pop art has influenced many generations of artists since he exploded onto the seen, with many album covers paying homage to his original Sgt Pepper work.

Public collections include:
Arts Council of Great Britain
Baltimore Museum of Art
Bristol City Art Gallery
British Council
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon
Museum Boymans-Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Tate, London
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Wolverhapton Art Gallery