SIR PETER BLAKE
Screen print on Somerset Tub Sized Satin 410gsm
36·6 × 29·5 cm
EDITION #10 of 25
 
Working parallel to the liberating music revolution, this playful recorder of popular culture, the outsider and the everyman, won the heart of the nation. Playing a crucial role in the emergence of Pop Art in Britain, Blake’s work draws on a wide variety of sources, ranging from fairgrounds, wrestlers and comic books to playfully referenced images from the history of art and the emerging culture of popular music. 
His magpie eye has always been drawn to what is popular in the public psyche while also engaging with the eccentric or unique. He is a great collector of objects, from kitsch memorabilia to the romantic ephemera of the circus and the wrestling ring.
During his residency at the National Gallery from 1995 to 1996, Blake painted portraits of tulips isolated from a series of famous European flower portraits — this one from a classic of the Dutch Golden Age, the age of cultural and scientific discovery. He selected this most classic and resonant of flower species from bouquets containing everything from roses to lilies — a serendipitous choice which has provided the image for his contribution to the Portfolio.