Peter Blake: A Life in Drawings and Watercolours

PETER BLAKE A Life in Drawings and Watercolours Waddington Custot

PETER BLAKE DRAWINGS

by Colin Wiggins Perhaps surprisingly for an artist of the stature of Peter Blake, whose work has helped to form much of our visual memory of a very significant and exciting period of life in post-War Britain, this is the first time that an exhibition has been devoted solely to his drawings. And yet drawing has always been a central part of his practice, indeed of his life. With his mapping pen or carefully sharpened pencil he can, in a few moments, record people and things that pin down a particular experience or place, whether it is the exoticism of a sumo wrestling tournament in Japan, a live gig with Eric Clapton in Hyde Park, or a furled sunshade on a Jersey seaside beach.

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Some of these drawings are carefully considered, with precise and delicate shading, such as the portraits of his wife Chrissy or old friend Ian Dury. Others have the addition of watercolour details that indicate that the work had a certain amount of planning in its preparation. There are some that were made quickly in a few minutes, of which several are drawn on hotel notepaper, the artist maybe sitting in a lobby and picking up whatever came to hand when something caught his eye. Quite a few are unfinished, hinting that they were started in a few spare moments and were then interrupted by, perhaps, the arrival of a friend or the serving of a meal. There’s one especially beautiful landscape view from a hotel bedroom capturing a cool early morning light, that is so nearly finished. It is inscribed ‘Room 28 La Columbe d’Or, Sept 2011’ ( 126 ), and one wonders what distraction came along to prevent its completion.

This exhibition starts with Blake’s very first tentative steps as a schoolboy and finishes with the multi-coloured extravaganzas of a recent series of watercolour drawings that show imaginary parties and their guests. The earliest drawing in this exhibition was made when the artist was just 13 or 14. ‘The Chapel on the Walls, Wareham’ ( 1 ) was carefully copied in pen and ink from a photograph in a Daily Express travel guide. Some carefully applied lettering clearly states the title and there is a neatly ruled border that defines its edges. It is executed precisely and patiently and, as a final touch, it is very self-consciously inscribed in the bottom right-hand corner with a little signature, ‘P.Blake’. One can feel the young boy’s satisfaction when, after hours of work, he added the final fullstop.

This precision and patience is very much a part of Blake’s character as an artist and indeed of the man himself.

Recent exhibitions of his own collections that he keeps in his legendary west London studio, have revealed to a wide public his obsession with neatness, with methodical arrangements of literally thousands of objects all neatly grouped and sorted.

Punch and Judy puppets and toy racing cars, animals, dolls and models of all varieties from Noddy figurines to Superheroes, seashells and bits of random driftwood, all are precisely arranged and classified.

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Some of his very early work, however, made in the mid-1950s when the artist was still discovering what manner of working suited him best, is rather looser and shows hints of the splashy and gestural that was part of mainstream contemporary art at the time. To take just one example, there is a drawing of Trinity College Library in Cambridge ( 22 ).

Instead of the artist’s neat writing that we are familiar with today from his instantly recognisable signature, there’s a rather spidery scrawl stating the subject. Much of the drawing is blobbed and scribbled in a very mid-1950s manner. But it is in the doorway that the young Blake is finding himself.

Painstakingly and slowly drawn with the fine nib of a pen, Blake has described all of the carved architectural detail with the punctiliousness of a Ruskin. The window above, with its lead glazing bars is almost obsessively rendered, little square by little square. It is in work such as this that the young Peter Blake is discovering how he alone prefers to work and he is leaving behind the idea of being just another 1950s art student. He is forging his own unique identity that is established upon care, patience, craft, skill and of course, a love for his subjects and a brilliantly original vision.

The recent party watercolours continue this theme. These are all works that are executed with a craftsman’s attention to the medium. To be able to make images as beautiful as this means there can be no short cuts. Watercolour is a notoriously tricky medium yet Blake’s control of it is faultless. Much contemporary art has become separated from the notion of skill and a division has grown up between the idea of fine art, with its grand intellectual pretensions, and the idea of craft which is often unthinkingly seen as being of less worth.

But Blake is having none of this. The acquisition of his skills began in his student days, a time that he values immensely because it helped to refine in him that ability to express his imagination through a truly remarkable body of work, whose place in the history of art is now assured.

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In the recent watercolour drawings, the portraits of the imaginary party guests (146 ) have that striking and visionary intensity we have come to expect from the artist. Yet not all of the guests are imaginary for one of them is the artist’s daughter Rose, wearing a red party hat. However, she is not shown as she is now – as a woman in her 30s – but as a little girl of about six or seven. It is within the artist’s power to do this, to lovingly capture his subject and to render her forever young.

We are fortunate that some of Blake’s early life-class drawings made at Gravesend School of Art have survived. They reveal a careful, even tentative execution with each drawing the result of a long and slow period of work. There is even one, made in about 1949, where a more swiftly drawn image of the same model is included, beneath the finely rendered drawing above ( 9 ). Blake remembers this as having been drawn by one of his tutors, as an example to the 16-year-old student of how he should proceed. In this little sketch by a now-forgotten tutor one can imagine the frustration of the young Blake’s teachers trying to get him to hurry up a little and finish the drawing before the caretaker comes in wanting to lock up for the night.

In his first year at the Royal College of Art, 1953–4, Blake spent a lot of time in the life room but sadly, these works have disappeared. When he went back to the College to clear out his locker a few weeks after the end of the summer term, he was too late. The College had done it for him and binned everything he had left there, obviously profoundly unaware of the trajectory their student was about to take.

Within five years after graduating he had featured in Ken Russell’s celebrated Pop Goes the Easel film that was broadcast on the BBC in 1962, and the Sunday Times colour supplement had run a major piece on him. Many of his iconic works appeared during the 1960s, ‘The Toy Shop’ and ‘Self-Portrait with Badges’ for example, which are both in the Tate collection and in 1983 his major retrospective there confirmed his status.

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All the while he was drawing. Sketchbooks would accompany him on his travels, starting in 1956–7 when he was given a Leverhulme Research Award and he travelled through Spain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands and then down to Italy.

Taking a break from his studies, he would bring out his pencil and make informal drawings of coffee cups and sugar bowls on café tables ( 29 ). This habit of documenting his trips continued on later visits, for example, to Paris, Japan or Los Angeles. Likewise, little notations of objects and places observed on occasions such as Christmas or New Year’s Eve, and even some little self-portraits recording a short hospital stay in 1991, add to the sense that Blake’s drawings act as a kind of diary for him. In many, his drawing style is honed down and his mapping pen becomes a favourite tool. Shading is often eliminated in favour of allowing the line to become dominant. This constant and often unmodulated line becomes one of the characteristics of Blake’s drawings, bringing to mind Klee’s famous dictum of ‘taking a line for a walk’.

Viewers can gain a lot of pleasure by following the line, trying to establish where the pen first touched the paper and then following it around to its conclusion. The results are quirky, lively, often comical and always engaging.

One especially enjoyable moment comes in a drawing that was produced on a trip Blake made to visit David Hockney in Los Angeles in 1979, accompanied by Howard Hodgkin. This was a journey that was to result in another of Blake’s iconic paintings, ‘The Meeting’ or ‘Have a Nice day, Mr Hockney’. Amongst the drawings Blake made during this visit is one that is inscribed in his familiar handwriting ‘First drawing in L.A. at David Hockney’s house – hungover – the pen is drawing by itself.’ ( 43 ) And so it apparently is. Somewhat unsteadily, it takes in the brash lettering of the cereal packets sitting on the table in an unfamiliar room, guiding the artist’s hand around the paper while he recovers from a 12 hour flight and a sociable night with dear friends.

In 1983, Blake was in discussion about undertaking a commission to design sets and costumes for a production of Tchaikovsky’s ballet, The Nutcracker, and he started to think seriously about what he might do by embarking upon a series

of preliminary sketches. Had this project ever been finalised it would have been unforgettable but frustratingly, it never happened. The proposed costumes, modelled upon the clothes seen in Edwardian photographs, immediately resonate with that romantic nostalgia that is so often found in the artist’s work. Blake was born in 1932, into a world that was still deeply connected to the culture of Victorian and Edwardian Britain, that was swept away in 1939 as the world changed forever. Without wishing to overstate things, perhaps deep memories of those first seven years of the artist’s life define much of his work. There were, of course, certain traditions that carried on after the war in much the same way as they had done before, the life of fairgrounds and circuses for example, which have always been a huge fascination to him and are both represented in drawings shown here.

Maybe the artist feels some kind of desire to hold onto that vanished time, hence these recurring themes in the subject matter he chooses.

In 1994 the National Gallery invited Blake to become its third Associate Artist and to make new work inspired by the collection, for an exhibition to be held two years later which he was to call Now We Are 64, a neat play on both A.A. Milne and The Beatles. On his first day in the Gallery’s studio, he decided to walk around the collection, room by room and then plan his two years. Typically he mapped out his ideas in a drawing which he dated Jan 10th 1994 and he neatly arranged and catalogued his thoughts on one large sheet.

Most of these ideas were to come to fruition and he inscribes on the bottom of the sheet, obviously with some excitement at the prospect of the next two years, ‘A chance to be a student at 61, to learn – WONDERFUL’.

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One of the most memorable pictures that came from the National Gallery project however, was not conceived on this very first day. His painting ‘The Venuses Outing to Weymouth’ is essentially a typical Peter Blake collection, with as many representations of the love goddess that he could find from the history of painting all gathered together in one scene, and placed on the beach of Constable’s ‘Weymouth Bay’. It was not until about a year into the residency that the idea for this picture occurred to him and he made a delightful little pen drawing showing an initial half dozen Venuses collected together ( 77). In the final painting there are sixteen, many of them accompanied by their various Cupids. In one respect this is a serious homage to the great masters of past tradition. Yet it is, at the same time, a hearty poke in the ribs.

One of the defining traditions within the practice of European art has been the life room. Starting in the 17th century with the advent of the first Academies, it is something that has continued until very recent times when it started to become seen as old-fashioned and no longer a necessary part of a young artist’s education. There are many who lament this and recognise the value of a practice where a student learns discipline and control. Above all, it teaches how to look. In 1997 Blake decided to go back to his student days, as it were, and started attending regular life classes again. He took the decision that he would make exactly one

thousand life drawings ( 10 4), which is quite an impressive act of dedication but typical in that he likes to set himself targets and then stick to them, come what may. In the year 2000 he finally completed this project.

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It is perhaps no more than co-incidence that Blake did this at exactly the same time as the rise of the so-called YBAs, the Young British Artists who grew out of the Duchampian notion of conceptual art where traditional skills and crafts were absent. Blake was a huge support to many of these artists, such as Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, when their own careers were beginning to take off but nonetheless it is true that he went back to life drawing at the very time when the controversial Sensation exhibition, that opened in September 1997 and launched these artists into the public eye, was being proposed at the Royal Academy.

Accordingly, Blake got together with a small group of friends and they regularly hired a model for them to sit around and draw, with the model asked to hold particular poses for different periods of time, ranging from 30 seconds to as long as 30 or 40 minutes. Each of Blake’s drawings is carefully inscribed with how long the drawing took, the date, and the number in the sequence. Blake has never cared much for the importance of finishing things to deadlines, so even in the sketches that were made in say, 30 seconds or 2 minutes, it is very clear that the lines have been applied slowly and patiently, with the artist steadfastly refusing to be hurried in order to complete a drawing before the time has elapsed.

These resulting quick sketches are wonderful. The idea that looking at an artist’s drawings can take the viewer somehow closer to the true character of an artist is perfectly exemplified in this series, whether in the spare and minimal marks of the 30 second drawings, or the precise and delicate shadings of the long poses.

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Finally, in one recent watercolour Blake seems to be bringing together all the different strands of his work.

It is a life drawing – of sorts – showing a female nude looking straight out of the picture, with an intense faraway gaze ( 155 ). Her body is completely covered with a huge number of amazing tattoos, meticulously rendered, each one demanding our attention. She stands as a kind of distillation of Blake’s art, executed with dazzling skill, coming from a tradition of entertainers who live a life alongside us yet separate from us, a character of the imagination yet derived from reality, who intrigues us, puzzles us and, above all, delights us.

Recent Watercolours

144. Late Period – ‘Party’ 1, 2017 watercolour and gouache on paper 22¼ × 30 in / 56.5 × 76.2 cm Our ref. B44720

145. Late Period – ‘Party’ 2, 2018 watercolour on paper 29⅞ × 21¾ in / 75.7 × 55.3 cm Our ref. B44739

146. Late Period – ‘Party’ 3, 2017 watercolour and gouache on paper 30 × 21⅞ in / 76.2 × 55.6 cm Our ref. B44719

147. Late Period – Study for ‘Party’ 1, 2018 watercolour on paper 10¼ × 7¼ in / 26 × 18.2 cm Our ref. B44723 148. Late Period – Study for ‘Party’ 2, 2018 watercolour on paper 10¼ × 7⅛ in / 26 × 18.1 cm Our ref. B44740

149. Late Period – Study for ‘Party’ 4, 2018 watercolour on paper 10¼ × 7⅛ in / 26 × 18 cm Our ref. B44724 150. Late Period – Study for ‘Party’ 3, 2018 watercolour on paper 10¼ × 7⅛ in / 26 × 18 cm Our ref. B44722

151. Late Period – Study for ‘Party’ 5, 2018 watercolour on paper 10¼ × 7 in / 26 × 17.9 cm Our ref. B44732 152. Late Period – Study for ‘Party’ 6, 2018 watercolour on paper 10¼ × 7⅛ in / 26 × 18 cm Our ref. B44731

153. Late Period – Study for ‘Party’ 7, 2018 watercolour on paper 10¼ × 7 in / 26 × 17.9 cm Our ref. B44733 154. Late Period – Study for ‘Party’ 8, 2018 watercolour on paper 10¼ × 7 in / 25.9 × 17.9 cm Our ref. B44734

155. Tattooed

Lady, 2018 watercolour and gouache on paper 22½ × 15⅜ in / 56.9 × 39 cm Our ref. B44730

156. Two Tattooed Ladies, 2018 watercolour on paper 13¾ × 14 in / 35 × 35.7 cm Our ref. B44737

157. Rose, 2018 watercolour on paper 15½ × 15½ in / 39.2 × 39.2 cm Our ref. B44738

158. Meghan Markle, The Duchess of Sussex, 2018 watercolour on paper 11⅞ × 8½ in / 30 × 21.5 cm Our ref. B44726

159. Her Majesty The Queen, 2018 watercolour on paper 11¼ × 8⅝ in / 28.6 × 21.9 cm Our ref. B44726

Drawings 1945–2018

1. The Chapel on the Walls, Wareham, c. 1945 pen and ink on paper 7½ × 9 in / 19 × 22.7 cm Our ref. B44605

2. Scribble – Two

Heads, n.d. pencil on paper 7¾ × 5⅜ in / 19.7 × 14.3 cm Our ref. B44583

3. Life Drawing, c. 1949 pencil on paper 22 × 18⅞ in / 56 × 48 cm Our ref. B44510 4. Seated Woman, c. 1949 pen and ink wash on paper 22 × 15 in / 56 × 38 cm Our ref. B44511

5. Standing Female Nude, c. 1949 pencil on paper 22 × 14⅞ in / 56 × 37.8 cm Our ref. B44512 6. Seated Female Nude, c. 1949 pencil on paper 20¼ × 14⅜ in / 51.5 × 36.5 cm Our ref. B44513

7. Seated Female Figure, c. 1949 pencil on paper 20¼ × 11⅞ in / 51.5 × 30 cm Our ref. B44514 8. Reclining Male Figure, c. 1949 pencil on paper 15¾ × 22⅝ in / 40 × 57.5 cm Our ref. B44518

9. Two

Studies of Seated Female Nude, c. 1949 pencil on paper 22 × 15⅜ in / 56 × 39 cm Our ref. B44520

10. Seated Female Figure Drawing in Studio, c. 1949 watercolour and pencil on paper 22 × 15¼ in / 55.8 × 38.5 cm Our ref. B44519

11. Classical Dome, c. 1949 gouache and watercolour on paper 8½ × 10⅞ in / 21.5 × 27.5 cm Our ref. B44630 12. Charlady, c. 1949 gouache on paper and cardboard 11⅜ × 9½ in / 28.7 × 24 cm Our ref. B44744

13. Joe’s Saloon, c. 1949 gouache on paper 10⅝ × 8⅜ in / 27 × 21.2 cm Our ref. B44745 14. Gilbeys Gin, c. 1949 watercolour and pencil on paper 6½ × 8 in / 16.3 × 20.1 cm Our ref. B44751

15. Head, c. 1949 watercolour on paper 10 × 7¼ in / 25.5 × 18.3 cm Our ref. B44750

16. After Paul Klee, c. 1949 gouache on paper 11¼ × 9⅜ in / 28.5 × 23.8 cm Our ref. B44749

17. Clown, c. 1949 watercolour on paper 7⅞ × 6⅜ in / 20 × 16.2 cm Our ref. B44747

18. Design, c. 1949 gouache on paper and cardboard 11¼ × 9⅜ in / 28.6 × 23.7 cm Our ref. B44746 19. Boarding House, c. 1949 gouache and pencil on paper 11¼ × 9⅜ in / 28.5 × 23.8 cm Our ref. B44748

20. Royal Festival Hall, 1954 pen, ink and watercolour on paper 14¼ × 22⅞ in / 36.2 × 57.9 cm Our ref. B44515

21. The Lantern, Ely Cathedral, 1954 pen, ink and ink wash on paper 15⅜ × 21½ in / 39 × 54.6 cm Our ref. B44516

College Library. Cambridge. Christopher 22. Trinity Wren. begun 1679, 1954 pen, pencil and watercolour on paper 15⅜ × 22⅞ in / 39 × 58 cm Our ref. B44517

23. A self-portrait..., 1954 pencil on paper 7 × 4⅜ in / 17.7 × 11.1 cm Our ref. B44589

24. Female Life Study, 1954 pencil on paper 8 × 5 in / 20.2 × 12.7 cm Our ref. B44591 25. Portrait Head, 1954 pen and ink wash on paper 6½ × 5½ in / 16.5 × 14 cm Our ref. B44623

26. Interior, 1955 ink and watercolour on paper 6½ × 5½ in / 16.5 × 14 cm Our ref. B44621

27. Interior, 1955 ink and watercolour on paper 6½ × 5½ in / 16.5 × 14 cm Our ref. B44622

28. Leverhulme Scholarship, 1956 pencil on paper 6⅝ × 5⅛ in / 16.8 × 13 cm Our ref. B44573 29. Leverhulme Scholarship, 1957 pencil on paper 8¼ × 5¼ in / 21 × 13.4 cm Our ref. B44574

30. Diary Page, July 1960, 1960 pencil on paper 4 × 2¾ in / 10 × 7 cm Our ref. B44572 31. ‘Dr Death’ Met. Edgware Rd, 1961 pencil on paper 8½ × 5⅛ in / 21.4 × 13 cm Our ref. B44590

32. Ted Haworth’s Oscar, 1963 pen, pencil, coloured pencil and wash on paper 12½ × 10 in / 31.8 × 25.4 cm Our ref. B44577

33. Bronze Figures of Women on a Bench, L.A., 1963 pen, coloured pencil and watercolour on paper 10 × 12½ in / 25.4 × 31.8 cm Our ref. B44579

34. Baskin Robbins, some of the 31 flavours, 1963 pencil on paper 12½ × 10 in / 31.8 × 25.5 cm Our ref. B44580

35. Moon rising at Wellow, c. 1974 watercolour on paper 5⅝ × 12⅛ in / 14.2 × 30.8 cm Our ref. B44625 36. Window at Coombe, c. 1976 pencil and coloured pencil on paper 7 × 6 in / 17.8 × 15.2 cm Our ref. B44566

37. Fairground, Bath, Summer 1976, 1976 pencil on paper 10¼ × 7⅞ in / 26 × 20 cm Our ref. B44594

38. Cottage in Cornwall, Ruralist Holiday, 1976 watercolour on paper 8 Ă— 8 in / 20.2 Ă— 20.2 cm Our ref. B44636

39. Ian Dury, c. 1978 pencil on paper 11 × 8 in / 28 × 20.3 cm Our ref. B44629 40. Blockheads: Johnny, Davey and Chas..., 1979 pencil on paper 8½ × 5 in / 21.5 × 12.5 cm Our ref. B44565

41. Blockheads: Micky, and Charlie’s Kit Hammersmith Odeon, Aug 79, 1979 pencil on paper 8½ × 5 in / 21.5 × 12.6 cm Our ref. B44762 42. Blockheads: Johnny, Norman and Chas, Hammersmith Odeon, Aug 79, 1979 pencil on paper 8½ × 5 in / 21.5 × 12.6 cm

43. First Morning in L.A. at David Hockney’s House..., 1979 pen and ink on paper 5¾ × 9¾ in / 14.4 × 24.7 cm Our ref. B44554 44. David Hockney’s Pool, L.A., 1980 pencil on paper 13¾ × 11 in / 35 × 28 cm Our ref. B44578

45. People Having a Picnic & Daisy’s socks, Cornwall, c. 1980 wax Crayon and ink on paper 11 × 8 in / 27.8 × 20.1 cm Our ref. B44598

Landscape Studies, Cornwall, 1980 46. Two pencil on paper 5½ × 3½ in / 13.4 × 8.7 cm Our ref. B44592

47. Chrissy, 1980 pencil on paper 14¼ × 10⅝ / 36 × 27 cm Our ref. B44755

48. Chrissy, 1980 Conté pencil on paper 16⅝ × 11¾ in / 42 × 29.7 cm Our ref. B44754

49. Ian Dury, 1980 watercolour on paper 9½ × 6⅛ in / 24.1 × 15.5 cm Our ref. B43427

50. Porthmeor Beach, St. Ives, 1981 pencil on paper 11 × 8 in / 27.8 × 20.2 cm Our ref. B44593

51. Chipperfield’s Circus ‘Big Top’ Bath, 1981 pencil on paper 4⅞ × 8½ in / 12.6 × 21.6 cm Our ref. B44596 52. Plant, 1982 pencil and white pencil on paper 16⅝ × 11⅝ in / 42 × 29.6 cm Our ref. B44586

53. Nutcracker 3, 1983 pencil and coloured pencil on paper 11⅞ × 8¼ in / 30 × 21 cm Our ref. B44608 54. Nutcracker 5, 1983 pencil and coloured pencil on paper 11⅞ × 8¼ in / 30 × 21 cm Our ref. B44616

55. Nutcracker 6, 1983 pencil and coloured pencil on paper 11⅞ × 8¼ in / 30 × 21 cm Our ref. B44617 56. Nutcracker 7, 1983 pencil and coloured pencil on paper 11⅞ × 8¼ in / 30 × 21 cm Our ref. B44618

57. Nutcracker 8, 1983 ink and coloured pencil on paper 11⅞ × 8¼ in / 30 × 21 cm Our ref. B44619 58. Nutcracker 10, 1983 ink and coloured pencil on paper 11⅞ × 8¼ in / 30 × 21 cm Our ref. B44620

59. Nutcracker 17, 1983 ink and watercolour on paper 14¾ × 11⅞ in / 37.4 × 30 cm Our ref. B44606 60. Nutcracker 19, 1983 ink and watercolour on paper 14⅞ × 12 in / 37.7 × 30.5 cm Our ref. B44607

61. Nutcracker Research 3, 1983 pen and ink and coloured pencil on paper 11⅞ × 8¼ in / 30 × 21 cm Our ref. B44761 62. Nutcracker Research 5, 1983 ink and coloured pencil on paper 11⅞ × 8¼ in / 30 × 21 cm Our ref. B44609

63. Nutcracker Research 6, 1983 ink and coloured pencil on paper 11⅞ × 8¼ in / 30 × 21 cm Our ref. B44610 64. Nutcracker Research 7, 1983 ink and coloured pencil on paper 11⅞ × 8¼ in / 30 × 21 cm Our ref. B44611

65. Nutcracker Research 8, 1983 pen and ink on paper 11⅞ × 8¼ in / 30 × 21 cm Our ref. B44612 66. Nutcracker Research 9, 1983 ink and coloured pencil on paper 11⅞ × 8¼ in / 30 × 21 cm Our ref. B44613

67. Nutcracker Research 10, 1983 pen and ink on paper 11⅞ × 8¼ in / 30 × 21 cm Our ref. B44614 68. Nutcracker Research 11, 1983 pen and ink on paper 11⅞ × 8¼ in / 30 × 21 cm Our ref. B44615

69. Sumo Tournament, Tokyo, 1988 pen and ink on paper 4⅞ × 6⅝ in / 12.2 × 16.7 cm Our ref. B44569

70. New Otani Hotel, Tokyo, 1988

pencil on paper 4⅞ × 6⅝ in / 12.2 × 16.7 cm Our ref. B44570

71. Flight BA8 Tokyo Airport, 1988 pencil on paper 4⅞ × 6⅝ in / 12.3 × 16.7 cm Our ref. B44571

72. Rose’s first ‘Flower Arrangement’ Apr. 26th 1989, 1989 pencil on paper 16½ × 11¾ in / 41.8 × 29.7 cm Our ref. B44595

Self-Portraits at 73. Three Charing Cross Hospital, 1991 pen and ink on paper 4⅞ × 30⅜ / 12.4 × 77 cm (each) Our ref. B44582

74. ‘Fruit’ France, 1993 pencil on paper 8¼ × 9¾ in / 21 × 24.8 cm Our ref. B44564

75. Chrissy Reading, & Still-Life.

France. Aug 5th 1993, 1993 pen and ink on paper 10 × 7 in / 25.3 × 17.7 cm Our ref. B44753

76. Some Thoughts on Work to do at National Gallery, 1994 pen and ink on paper 16⅝ × 11¾ in / 42 × 29.7 cm Our ref. B44587

77. A Meeting of Venuses, 1994 pen and ink on paper 8¼ × 11⅝ in / 20.9 × 29.6 cm Our ref. B44588

78. ‘Flowers’ France, 1995 pencil on paper 10 × 7 in / 25.3 × 17.7 cm Our ref. B44576

79. Masters of Music Concert..., 1996 pen and ink on paper 9⅞ × 7⅜ in / 25 × 18.8 cm Our ref. B44585

on the Lawn, Cornwall, 1997 80. Toys pencil on paper 8¼ × 5½ in / 20.9 × 13.8 cm Our ref. B44575

81. 1000 Life Drawings No.112, 1998 pencil on paper 11 × 8½ in / 27.8 × 21.5 cm Our ref. B44529 82. 1000 Life Drawings No.281, 1998 ink on paper 11 × 7⅝ in / 28 × 19.2 cm Our ref. B44539 83. 1000 Life Drawings No.282, 1998 ink on paper 10⅞ × 7⅝ in / 27.5 × 19.3 cm Our ref. B44540

84. 1000 Life Drawings No.283, 1998 ink on paper 7½ × 11 in / 19 × 28 cm Our ref. B44541 85. 1000 Life Drawings No.284, 1998 ink on paper 7½ × 11 in / 19 × 28 cm Our ref. B44542 86. 1000 Life Drawings No.285, 1998 ink on paper 7¾ × 10⅞ in / 19.5 × 27.5 cm Our ref. B44543

87. 1000 Life Drawings No.251, 1998 pencil on paper 10 × 8 in / 25.4 × 20.3 cm Our ref. B44544 88. 1000 Life Drawings No.308, 1998 pencil on paper 10 × 8 in / 25.4 × 20.4 cm Our ref. B44545

89. 1000 Life Drawings No.290, 1998 pencil on paper 10 × 8 in / 25.5 × 20.3 cm Our ref. B44628 90. 1000 Life Drawings No.374, 1998 pen and ink on paper 5⅞ × 3⅞ in / 15 × 9.7 cm Our ref. B44567

91. Swimming Pool, Oceana Hotel, Santa Monica, 1998 pencil on paper 5⅞ × 3¾ in / 14.8 × 9.5 cm Our ref. B44559

92. Oceana Hotel, Santa Monica, 1998 pencil on paper 5⅞ × 3¾ in / 14.8 × 9.5 cm Our ref. B44568 93. Morning (9am) at the Oceana Hotel, 1998 pencil on paper 5⅞ × 3¾ in / 14.8 × 9.5 cm Our ref. B44560

94. Midday at the Oceana Hotel, 1998 pencil on hotel notepaper 5½ × 4¼ in / 14 × 10.8 cm Our ref. B44561

95. Man Reading at the Oceana Hotel, 1998 pencil on paper 5½ × 4¼ in / 14 × 10.8 cm Our ref. B44562

96. 1000 Life Drawings No.460, 1999 pencil on paper 8¼ × 5⅞ in / 20.8 × 14.7 cm Our ref. B44563

97. 1000 Life Drawings No.468, 1999 pencil on paper 8¼ × 5⅞ in / 21 × 14.7 cm Our ref. B44632 98. 1000 Life Drawings No.502, 1999 pencil on paper 10 × 8 in / 25.3 × 20.3 cm Our ref. B44530

99. 1000 Life Drawings No.516, 1999 pencil on paper 10 × 8 in / 25.4 × 20.2 cm Our ref. B44531

100. 1000 Life Drawings No.520, 1999 pen and ink on paper 10 × 8 in / 25.4 × 20.2 cm Our ref. B44532 101. 1000 Life Drawings No.521, 1999 pen and ink on paper 11⅝ × 8¼ in / 29.5 × 21 cm Our ref. B44533

102. 1000 Life Drawings No.523, 1999 pen and ink on paper 11⅝ × 8¼ in / 29.5 × 21 cm Our ref. B44534

103. 1000 Life Drawings No.584, 1999 pen and ink on paper 8¼ × 4¾ in / 21 × 12 cm Our ref. B44601

104. 1000 Life Drawings No.585, 1999 pen and ink on paper 8¼ × 4¾ in / 21 × 12 cm Our ref. B44602

105. 1000 Life Drawings No.608, 1999 pen and ink on paper 7 × 5 in / 17.8 × 12.5 cm Our ref. B44603

106. 1000 Life Drawings No.609, 1999 pen and ink on paper 7⅛ × 4⅞ in / 18 × 12.2 cm Our ref. B44604

107. 1000 Life Drawings No.684, 1999 charcoal on paper 11½ × 11⅞ in / 29 × 30 cm Our ref. B44521 108. 1000 Life Drawings No.685, 1999 charcoal on paper 11½ × 11⅞ in / 29 × 30 cm Our ref. B44522 109. 1000 Life Drawings No.686, 1999 charcoal on paper 11½ × 11⅞ in / 29 × 30 cm Our ref. B44523

110. 1000 Life Drawings No.687, 1999 charcoal on paper 11½ × 11⅞ in / 29 × 30 cm Our ref. B44524 111. 1000 Life Drawings No.688, 1999 charcoal on paper 11½ × 11⅞ in / 29 × 30 cm Our ref. B44525 112. 1000 Life Drawings No.689, 1999 charcoal on paper 11½ × 11⅞ in / 29 × 30 cm Our ref. B44526

113. 1000 Life Drawings No.690, 1999 charcoal on paper 11½ × 11⅞ in / 29 × 30 cm Our ref. B44527 114. 1000 Life Drawings No.691, 1999 charcoal on paper 11½ × 11⅞ in / 29 × 30 cm Our ref. B44528

115. 1000 Life Drawings No.914, 2000 pencil on paper 8¼ × 5⅞ in / 21 × 14.8 cm Our ref. B44631 116. 1000 Life Drawings No.927, 2000 pencil on paper 11⅝ × 8¼ in / 29.5 × 21 cm Our ref. B44535

117. Self-Portrait with Snow White, 2000 pencil and coloured pencil on paper 9¼ × 5¾ cm / 23.5 × 14.6 cm Our ref. B44581

118. Figure of Oscar Wilde – Oscar Wilde Suite L’Hotel, Paris, 2009 pen and ink on paper 5⅞ × 4 in / 15 × 10 cm Our ref. B44555

119. Oscar Wilde Suite L’Hotel, Paris, 2010 pen and ink on hotel notepaper 11¾ × 8¼ in / 29.7 × 21 cm Our ref. B44553

120. Chrissy Unwell – Oscar Wilde Suite L’Hotel, Paris (1), 2009 pen and ink on paper 5⅞ × 4 in / 15 × 10 cm Our ref. B44556

121. Chrissy Unwell – Oscar Wilde Suite L’Hotel, Paris (2), 2009 pen and ink on paper 5⅞ × 4 in / 15 × 10 cm Our ref. B44557 122. Chrissy Unwell – Oscar Wilde Suite L’Hotel, Paris (3), 2009 pen and ink on paper 5⅞ × 4 in / 15 × 10 cm Our ref. B44558

123. La Colombe d’Or ‘Roof’, 2012 watercolour and pencil on paper 9 × 12 in / 23 × 30.5 cm Our ref. B44546 124. La Colombe d’Or ‘Calder’, 2012 watercolour on paper 9 × 12 in / 23 × 30.5 cm Our ref. B44547

125. La Colombe d’Or ‘Roses’, 2012 watercolour and pencil on paper 12 × 9 in / 30.5 × 23 cm Our ref. B44550

126. Room 28. La Colombe d’Or, 2011 watercolour and pencil on paper 11⅞ × 9 in / 30 × 23 cm Our ref. B44549

127. La Colombe d’Or, 2012 pencil and coloured pencil on paper 11⅝ × 8¼ in / 29.5 × 21 cm Our ref. B44551

128. Calder Mobile, La Colombe d’Or, 2011 pencil and watercolour on paper 11⅞ × 9 in / 30 × 22.8 cm Our ref. B44548

129. Grape Stalk & ‘ULYSSES’ La Colombe d’Or, 2011 pencil on paper 11¾ × 8¼ in / 29.7 × 21 cm Our ref. B44552

130. Christmas Day 2013, 2013 pencil on paper 11⅝ × 8¼ in / 29.4 × 20.9 cm Our ref. B44627

131. Clouds, Jersey, 2013 pen and ink on paper 5½ × 5½ in / 14 × 14 cm Our ref. B44633

132. End of Season Sunshade, Jersey, 2013 pen and ink on paper 5½ × 5½ in / 14 × 14 cm Our ref. B44634 133. Balcony, Jersey, 2013 pen and ink on paper 5½ × 5½ in / 14 × 14 cm Our ref. B44635

134. New Year’s Eve 2015, 2015 pen and ink on paper 8¼ × 11⅝ in / 20.9 × 29.4 cm Our ref. B44597

135. Christmas Robin, 2015 gouache on paper 6¾ × 6 in / 17 × 15.2 cm Our ref. B44626 136. Lamp & Flowers, L’Hotel, Paris 14/10/16, 2016 pen and ink on hotel notepaper 5⅛ × 3⅝ in / 13 × 9 cm Our ref. B44637

137. Babington House. Christmas Day 2016, 2016 pencil on paper 11⅝ × 7⅞ in / 29.5 × 20 cm Our ref. B44536

138. Babington House. Boxing Day 2016, 2016 pencil on paper 11⅝ × 7⅞ in / 29.5 × 20 cm Our ref. B44538

139. Babington House. Boxing Day 2016 ‘Archery’, 2016 pencil on paper 11⅝ × 7⅞ in / 29.5 × 20 cm Our ref. B44537

140. Dartford Warbler, 2017 watercolour on paper 9 × 6⅜ in / 23 × 16 cm Our ref. B44752

141. Bobcat and the Shadow of the Christmas Tree, Thursday Morning. Dec 28th 2017, 2017 pen and ink on paper 11⅝ × 8¼ in / 29.6 × 21 cm Our ref. B44758

142. ‘Christmas Tree’. Dec 27th 2017, 2017 pen and ink on paper 11⅝ × 8¼ in / 29.6 × 21 cm Our ref. B44759

143. Christmas Drawing 2017. Dec 27th, 2017 pen and ink on paper 8¼ × 11⅝ in / 21 × 29.6 cm Our ref. B44760

BIOGRAPHY

1932 Born 25 June, Dartford, Kent 1946–9 Studies at Gravesend Technical College and School of Art; Junior Art Department 1949–51 Attends Gravesend School of Art

1950 Offered place at Royal College of Art, London 1951–3 Completes National Service in RAF 1953–6 Attends Royal College of Art, London; graduates with First Class Diploma 1956–7 Wins Leverhulme Research Award to study popular art; travels in Holland, Belgium, France, Italy and Spain

1958 Receives Guggenheim Painting Award, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London 1960–4 Teaches at art schools in London; St Martin’s, Harrow and Walthamstow

1961 Features in Ken Russell’s BBC Monitor film

Pop Goes the Easel

1962 1963

1964–76

1968

1969

1974

1975

1979 1980 1981 1983

1985

1986

1987

1988

1990

1994–6

1995

1998 2001

2002 2003

2004

Awarded First Prize Junior Section, John Moores Liverpool Exhibition First solo exhibition, Portal Gallery, London Marries Jann Haworth Visits Los Angeles to complete portfolio of drawings for The Sunday Times Teaches at Royal College of Art, London Daughter, Juliette Liberty Blake, born Moves to Wellow, Avon Daughter, Daisy Blake, born Elected Associate Member of Royal Academy of Arts, London Founder member of Brotherhood of Ruralists, with Jann Haworth, Ann and Graham Arnold, David Inshaw, Annie and Graham Ovenden Separates from Jann Haworth; returns to London Meets Chrissy Wilson Elected Member of Royal Academy of Arts, London Features in John Read’s film Peter Blake: Work in Progress, BBC Two, 21 February Awarded CBE Designs poster for Live Aid, world’s largest ever multi-national pop concert held in aid of African famine relief, 13 July Publication of Marina Vaizey’s monograph Peter Blake by Weidenfeld & Nicholson Marries Chrissy Wilson Daughter, Rose Blake, born Features in London Weekend Television (LWT) Arts Festival programme, 31 July One of three judges for Arts Festival, London Features in Channel 4 Daily programme directed

by David Roper for Channel 4 Television, 21 March Features in LWT Arts Festival programme, 25 March Third Associate Artist, The National Gallery, London Commissioned to design cover for Paul Weller’s Stanley Road album Awarded Honorary Doctorate, Royal College of Art, London Designs album cover for Brand New Boots and Panties, dedicated to memory of Ian Dury Receives Knighthood Publication of Natalie Rudd’s monograph Peter Blake by Tate Publishing Creates monumental two-part bronze sculpture for Blackpool Borough Council’s Great Promenade Show; ‘Four Man Up’ and ‘Equestrian Act’ reach nearly 10-ft high Designs album covers for Eric Clapton’s Me And Mr Johnson and Brian Wilson’s

Gettin’ In Over My Head

2005 Designs poster for Live 8 concert, 2 July Resigns from Royal Academy of Arts, London Produces Peter Blake’s Mystery Tour for BBC Radio 3 programme Between the Ears, based on fictional account of day spent with Marcel Duchamp 2006 Invited to judge John Moores 24, John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize, with Tracey Emin, Jason Brooks, Ann Bukantas and Andrea Rose ITV South Bank Show, presented by Melvyn Bragg, focuses on Blake’s life and work, 19 November 2007 Commissioned by Coca-Cola UK to create monumental artwork on London’s South Bank as part of ‘Summer on the Coke side of life’ Designs deckchair for Deckchair Dreams Project, supporting Royal Parks Foundation, London 2009 Peter Blake: One Man Show, major monograph written

by Marco Livingstone published by Lund Humphries Collaborates with Stella McCartney on print for range of clothes and accessories CCA Art Bus launches with solo exhibition of prints

2010 Produces collage for Chelsea Football Club as part of ‘Made from 100% Chelsea’ advertising campaign

Curates Exhibition #3 at The Museum of Everything, London; exhibits personal collection of art and artefacts 2012 Paints portrait of HM The Queen for Radio Times Jubilee Royal Souvenir issue Creates ‘Icons for Norway’ frieze on wall of Skur 13 building, Tjuvholmen, Oslo Invited to take part in BT Artbox project; decorated telephone box marks 25th anniversary of Childline Curates exhibition Things I Love at the Fine Art Society and designs flag to hang outside The Fine Art Society, London Designs cover for Madness album XXX and Paul Weller single Dragonfly 2014 Appearing at the Royal Albert Hall, specially-commissioned 10-ft wide montage mural, including over 400 performers at the venue since its opening, unveiled at Royal Albert Hall, London, 29 April Completes 28-year project to illustrate Dylan Thomas’s

Under Milk Wood

2015 Creates ‘Everybody Razzle Dazzle’ design to cover Mersey Ferry ‘Snowdrop’; commissioned by Liverpool Biennial, 14–18 NOW: WW1 Centenary Art Commissions and Tate Liverpool Subject of episode of BBC Four series What Do Artists Do All Day?; filmed in studio preparing for Mersey Ferry commission and Waddington Custot exhibition, 26 August Creates collage to commemorate 800 years of London’s Lord Mayor’s Show 2017 Creates bespoke collage titled ‘Our Fans’, for Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in Knightsbridge, London Commissioned to create 25meter collage to cover the facade of Mandrian Oriental Hotel, fifty years on from The Beatles album cover, ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The collage includes 100 celebrity figures, Hyde Park London Designs floating bar and restaurant canal boats Darcie & May situated on Grand Union Canal 2018 Designs badges for Circus250 in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the circus in the United Kingdom Lives and works in London

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

1954 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London (and also in 1955, 1962, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1976, 1978, 1982–3, 1986, 1989, 1991–2005, 2018)

1955 Paintings by Tutors and Students at the RCA, Exeter The Observer Exhibition of Portraits of Children, RWS Galleries, London Daily Express Young Artists’ Exhibition, New Burlington Galleries, London

1958 Five Painters (with John Barnicoat, Peter Coviello, William Green and Richard Smith), Institute of Contemporary Arts, London The Guggenheim Painting Award 1958: British Section, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London 1960 Theo Crosby: sculpture, Peter Blake: objects, John Latham: libraries, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London Grass by Tony Gifford, Gold by Peter Blake, New Vision Centre, London Peter Blake, Roddy Maude-Roxby, Ivor Abrahams, Portal Gallery, London The Mysterious Sign, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London

1961 Pauline Boty, Peter Blake, Christine Porter, Geoffrey Reeve, AIA Gallery, London John Moores Liverpool Exhibition, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

1962 British Painting Today and Yesterday, Arthur Tooth and Sons, London Towards Art?, Royal College of Art, London New Realists, Sidney Janis Gallery, New York 1962–3 British Art Today, San Francisco Museum of Art; touring to Dallas Museum of Contemporary Arts; Santa Barbara Museum of Art

1963 Drawings by Artists of Two Generations, Grabowsky Gallery, London British Painting in the Sixties, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London Dunn International Exhibition, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, New Brunswick; touring to Tate Gallery, London Troisième Biennale de Paris, Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris

1964 The New Image, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast 6 Young Painters, Blackburn Art Gallery; touring to Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Kingston-upon-Hull; Eastbourne; Cambridge; Sheffield (Arts Council exhibition) New painting 61–64, Arts Council of Great Britain, London British Painting from the Paris Biennale 1963,

Royal College of Art, London Shakespeare Exhibition, 1954–1964, Stratford-upon-Avon Summer Exhibition 1964, Robert Fraser Gallery, London Pittsburgh International, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh

1965 Peter Stuyvesant Foundation: a collection in the making, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London Pop Art: Nouveau Idealisme, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels London: The New Scene, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; touring to The Washington Gallery of Modern Art, Washington, DC; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; Seattle Art Museum Pavilion; The Vancouver Art Gallery; The Art Gallery of Toronto; The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

1966 European Drawings, Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York Work in Progress, Robert Fraser Gallery, London Blake, Boshier, Caulfield, Hamilton, Paolozzi, Studio Marconi, Milan Irish Exhibition of Living Art, National College of Art, Dublin

1967 British Drawings: The New Generation, The Museum of Modern Art, New York

1962 Portal Gallery, London 1965 Robert Fraser Gallery, London 1969 Leslie Waddington Prints, London Robert Fraser Gallery, London City Art Gallery, Bristol

1970 Ashgate Gallery, Farnham

1972 Waddington Galleries, London 1973–4 Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; touring to Kunstverein Hamburg; Gemeentemuseum, Arnhem; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

1977 Waddington and Tooth Galleries, London

1978 Waddington Graphics, London

1979 Bohun Gallery, Henley-on-Thames 1980 Galleria Documenta, Turin

1983 Tate Gallery, London; touring to Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover (retrospective)

1984 Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris 1986–7 Watermans Art Centre, Brentford, Middlesex; touring to Turnpike Gallery, Leigh

1988 Nishimura Gallery, Tokyo 1990 Waddington Galleries, London Wetterling Gallery, Gothenburg

1992 Govinda Gallery, Washington, DC

1995 Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris 1996–7 Now We Are 64: Peter Blake at The National Gallery, The National Gallery, London; touring to Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester

1999 A Cabinet of Curiosities from the Collections of Peter Blake, Morley Gallery, London 2000 Peter Blake: About Collage, Tate Liverpool 2001–9 Peter Blake: Alphabet, touring UK venues to 2009 (Hayward Touring exhibition) 2002 Sir Peter Blake / And Now We Are 70, Paul Morris Gallery, New York 2003 Artiscope, Brussels Peter Blake: Commercial Art, The London Institute Gallery, London Peter Blake: Sculpture, The London Institute Gallery, London 2005 Peter Blake: 1–10 (Collages, Constructions, Drawings & Sculpture) & The Marcel Duchamp Paintings, Waddington Galleries, London 2006 With a Little Help, Spring Fine Art, Design and Antiques Fair, London Peter Blake: 1975–2005, Bjorn Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm Peter Blake: New Prints and Sculpture, Harley Gallery, Welbeck 2007 Peter Blake: A Retrospective, Tate Liverpool; touring to Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao 2008 Galerie Thomas Levy, Hamburg; touring to Lorenzelli Arte, Milan 2009 Peter Blake’s Polaroids, Opus Art, Newcastle upon Tyne Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris

2010 Homage 10 × 5: Blake’s Artists, Waddington Galleries, London

2011 Peter Blake: World Tour, Mary Ryan Gallery, New York Peter Blake: A Museum for Myself, The Holburne Museum, Bath

2012 Blake’s Artists and Other Collages, Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm Peter Blake and Pop Music, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester Peter Blake: Rock, Paper, Scissors, Waddington Custot Galleries, London

2013 Peter Blake: Four Decades, Chelsea Futurespace, London 2013–14 Llareggub: Peter Blake illustrates Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff Peter Blake: Portraits and People, 2015 Waddington Custot Galleries, London 2016 Peter Blake’s Grand Tour, The Harley Gallery, Worksop, Nottinghamshire Peter Blake: Alphabets, Letters and Numbers,

De La Warr Pavilion, East Sussex Porthminster Gallery, St Ives

Sir Peter Blake – Once Upon a Time, Wetterling Gallery,

Stockholm Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris Be Magnificent: Walthamstow School of Art 1957- 1967, 2017 William Morris Gallery, London Hicks Gallery, London The Alphabet Suites, Bohun Gallery, 2018 Henley-on-Thames A Life in Drawings and Watercolours, Waddington Custot, London

Work from 1956 to 1967 by Clive Barker, Peter Blake, Richard Hamilton, Jann Haworth and Le visage de l’homme dans l’art contemporain, Musée Rath, Geneva Jeunes Peintres Anglais, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels Englische Kunst, Galerie Bischofberger, Zurich 1967 Pittsburgh International, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh Convocation Exhibition, Royal College of Art, London Recent British Painting: Peter Stuyvesant Collection,

Tate Gallery, London

Homage to Marilyn Monroe, Sidney Janis Gallery,

New York 1967–8 Three Painters: Peter Blake, Jim Dine, Richard Hamilton, Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham; touring to Arts Council Gallery, Cambridge

1968 Painting 1964–1967, Hayward Gallery, London (Arts Council exhibition) Britische Kunst heute, Kunstverein, Hamburg Three Blind Mice, de collecties: Visser, Peeters, Becht, Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven The Obsessive Image 1960–1968, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London From Kitaj to Blake: non-abstract artists in Britain, Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford

1969 Pop Art, Hayward Gallery, London

1970 Works on Paper, Waddington Galleries, London Contemporary British Art, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo British Painting and Sculpture 1960–1970, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

An Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Screenprints

by Peter Blake and Graham Ovenden based on the theme of Lewis Caroll’s Alice, Waddington Galleries, London 1970–1 New Multiple Art, Whitechapel Art Gallery,

London (Arts Council exhibition) 1971 Works on Paper, Waddington Galleries, London Critic’s Choice, selected by Robert Melville, Arthur Tooth and Sons, London 1973 11 Englische Zeichner, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden; touring to Kunsthalle, Bremen; ICC, Antwerp Earth Images, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (Scottish Arts Council exhibition)

Henry Moore to Gilbert and George: Modern British art from the Tate Gallery, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

1974 Peter Blake (with works by Jann Haworth), Festival Gallery, Bath Peter Blake’s Selection, Festival Gallery, Bath British Painting ‘74, Hayward Gallery, London Works on Paper, Waddington Galleries, London 1975–6 European Painting in the 70s, Los Angeles

County Museum of Art; touring to St Louis Art Museum; Elvehjem Art Center, Madison, Wisconsin 1976 Pop Art in England, Kunstverein, Hamburg; touring to Munich; York Art Gallery Arte Inglese Oggi 1960–76, Palazzo Reale, Milan (British Council exhibition)

Peter Blake, Richard Hamilton, David Hockney, R B Kitaj, Eduardo Paolozzi, Boymans-van Beuningen Museum,

Rotterdam 1977 Hayward Annual, Hayward Gallery, London (Arts Council exhibition) The Brotherhood of Ruralists, Festival Gallery, Bath; touring to Edinburgh; Doncaster; Southampton British Painting 1952–1977, Royal Academy of Arts, London 1978 Groups, Waddington Galleries, London 1979 Groups II, Waddington Galleries, London The Brotherhood of Ruralists, Charleston Manor, Seaford, Sussex The Brotherhood of Ruralists, Gainsborough’s House, Sudbury, Suffolk This Knot of Life, LA Louver Gallery, Los Angeles 1980 Groups III, Waddington Galleries, London Fairies, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery

Ophelia: paintings and drawings on the theme of Ophelia by the Brotherhood of Ruralists, City Museum and Art Gallery, Bristol 1981 Groups IV, Waddington Galleries, London The Ruralists, Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol; touring to Birmingham; Glasgow; Camden Arts Centre, London

Six British Artists, Prints 1974–1981,

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1987–8

1988

1988–90

Waddington Graphics, London Groups V, Waddington Galleries, London British Drawings and Watercolours, China Art Gallery, Beijing; touring to Shanyang; Hong Kong (British Council exhibition) Landscape, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester Groups VI, Waddington Galleries, London Groups VII, Waddington Galleries, London Works on Paper, Waddington Galleries, London The Automobile and Culture, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art Look People, National Portrait Gallery, London The Hard Won Image, Tate Gallery, London Groups VIII, Waddington Galleries, London La vie et l’oeuvre de l’ecrivain, Galerie James Mayor, Paris Royal College of Art Printmaking Appeal Fund Exhibition, Barbican Art Gallery, London Little and Large, Waddington Galleries, London Forty Years of Modern Art, Tate Gallery, London American / European Painting and Sculpture, LA Louver Gallery, Los Angeles British Art in the 20th Century: The Modern Movement, Royal Academy of Arts, London Pop Art USA – UK, Odakyu Grand Gallery, Tokyo; touring to Daimaru Museum, Osaka; Funabashi Seibu Museum of Art; Sogo Museum of Art, Yokohama London Group Exhibition, Royal College of Art, London Comic Iconoclasm, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; touring to Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin; Cornerhouse Gallery, Manchester; and European tour Mother and Child, Lefevre Gallery, London Contemporary Art Auctions, St Peter’s Church Hall, Portobello Road, London The New British Painting, The Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio; touring to Chicago Public Library Cultural Center; Haggerty Museum, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan

1989 Works on Paper, Waddington Galleries, London Twentieth Century Works, Waddington Galleries, London

1 989–90 The Secret Garden: The Work of The Brotherhood of Ruralists, Piccadilly Gallery, London Picturing People, National Gallery, Kuala Lumpur; touring to Museum of Art, Hong Kong; Empress Palace Gallery, Singapore (British Council exhibition) Three Ways, Magyar Kepzomuveszeti, Budapest; touring 1990 to Istvankiraly, Szekessehervar; Pecf, Hungary (Royal College of Art exhibition organised by British Council)

Masterpieces from the Arts Council Collection: 20th Century British Paintings, Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo

1991 British Art from 1930, Waddington Galleries, London Five Artists, Waddington Galleries, London 1991–2 Pop Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London; touring to Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid

1992 Ready, Steady, Go: Painting of the Sixties from the Arts Council Collection, Royal Festival Hall, London; touring Britain 1992–3 Pop Art, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

1993 The Sixties Art Scene in London, Barbican Art Gallery, London

1994 Elvis + Marilyn: 2 × Immortal, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; touring United States

1995 Paintings from the 60s and 70s: Peter Blake, Patrick Caulfield and Howard Hodgkin, Waddington Galleries, London Revolution: Art of the Sixties from Warhol to Beuys, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo 1995–6 Marilyn Monroe, Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, Rome

1997 Treasure Island, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon British Figurative Art, Part 1: Painting, The Human Figure, Flowers Gallery, London The Pop ’60s: Transatlantic Crossing, Fundacio das Descobertas, Lisbon Essence of Humour, Crane Kalman, London 1998–9 Smakprov. Wetterling Gallery 1978–1998, Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm POP-TASTIC!, Wolverhampton Art Gallery

1999 Collage – The Pasted-Paper Revolution, Crane Kalman Gallery, London Best of British: 26 Paintings and The New Wing,

Pallant House Gallery, Chichester 2000 Defining the Times, Milton Keynes Gallery 2000–1 The School of London and their friends: the collection of Elaine and Melvin Merians, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut; touring to Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College State University of New York, Purchase, New York

2001 Pop Art US / UK Connections, 1956–1966, The Menil Collection, Houston Les Années Pop, Centre Pompidou, Paris

Drawing Distinctions: Twentieth Century Drawings and Watercolours from the British Council Collections,

Milton Keynes Gallery 2002 Transition: The London Art Scene in the Fifties, Barbican Art Galleries, London United Kingdom United States, Waddington Galleries, London British Pop Art, Alan Cristea Gallery, London 2002–3 Blast to Freeze: British Art in the 20th Century, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg; touring to Les Abattoirs, Toulouse 2003 Five in One: David Inshaw – Friends and Influences, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol Marilyn Monroe – Life of a Legend, County Hall Gallery, London 2004 Naked, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol An Artist’s Choice: David Remfry Selects, Bohun Gallery, Henley-on-Thames Diamond Dust Volume One, Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh

Just what is it that makes British Pop art so different, so appealing?, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut

Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS): Twenty years, The Mall Galleries, London Pop Art UK: British Pop Art 1956–1972, Palazzo Santa

Margherita, Palazzina dei Giardini, Modena Marilyn. Una vida de leyenda, Reales Ataranzanes de Valencia; touring to Centro Cultural de la Villa Plaza de Colon, Madrid Art and the 60s: This Was Tomorrow, Tate Britain, London; touring to Gas Hall, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery 2005 The Brotherhood of Ruralists and the Pre-Raphaelites, Peter Nahum at The Leicester Galleries, London British Pop, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao Good Vibrations: le arti visive e il rock, 2006 Papesse Centro Arte Contemporanea, Siena Modern British Art: The First 100 Years, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester 2007 All Tomorrow’s Pictures, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London Pop Art Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, London

Pop Art Is …, Gagosian Gallery, London A Tribute to Sir Colin St John Wilson, James Hyman Gallery, London

Looking Forward: Thirty Contemporary British Artists, Agnew’s, London

White Out, The Fine Art Society, London Sculpture, Waddington Galleries, London 2007–8 Pop Art 1956–1968, Scuderie del Quirinale, Rome 2008 Peter Blake and John Wesley Tracings: From the 1960s On, Fredericks & Freiser, New York 100 Years, 100 Artists, 100 Works of Art, A Foundation, London

Post-War to Pop. Modern British Art: Abstraction, Pop and Op Art, Whitford Fine Art, London L’usage de la parole, Artiscope, Brussels 2009 15th Autumn Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol 2010 Sculpture, Waddington Galleries, London

The Ear of Giacometti: (Post-)Surreal Art from Meret Oppenheim to Mariella Mosler,

Galerie Levy, Hamburg 2011 Studies for an Exhibition, David Roberts Art Foundation, London 2012 Parallelwelt Zirkus, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna

Freedom not Genius: Works from Damien Hirst’s Murderme Collection, Pinacoteca Agnelli, Turin 2013 Pop Imagery, Waddington Custot Galleries, London Pop Art Design, Vitra Design Museum,

Weil am Rhein, Germany; touring to Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Barbican Art Gallery, London; Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, Finland; Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter, Hovikodden, Norway

When Britain Went Pop – British Pop Art: The Early Years, organised by Christie’s and

Waddington Custot Galleries, Christie’s Mayfair, London

Pop Art to Britart: Modern Masters from the David Ross Collection, Djanogly Art Gallery,

Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham 2014–15 Pop to popism, Art Gallery New South Wales, Sydney

2015 A Strong Sweet Smell of Incense: A Portrait of Robert Fraser (curated by Brian Clark), Pace Gallery, London Magnificent Obsessions: The Artist as Collector, Barbican Art Gallery, London International Pop, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; touring to Dallas Museum of Art; Philadelphia Museum of Art POP ART HEROES: Pop, Pin-Ups & Politics, 2016 Whitford Fine Art, London Peter Blake Silkscreen Prints, For Arts Sake,

The Printmakers Gallery, London POP! Art in a Changing Britain, 2018 Pallant House Gallery, Chichester

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS Arts Council Collection Baltimore Museum of Art Bristol City Art Gallery British Council, London Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford Ferens Art Gallery, Hull Museums & Art Gallery Leeds City Art Gallery Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao Museum Boymans-Van Beuningen, Rotterdam Museum Ludwig, Cologne Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna Museum of Modern Art, New York National Museums Wales Royal College of Art, London Sheffield City Art Galleries Sintra Museum of Modern Art, Portugal – The Berardo Collection Tate, London Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle Victoria and Albert Museum, London Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester Wolverhampton Art Gallery

BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE ARTIST 1978 McGough, Robert: Summer with Monica, Andre Deutsch, London 1979 Longrigg, Roger: The Sun on the Water, MacMillan, London 1980 Ridley, M.R. (ed.): Othello, Arden Shakespeare, Methuen & Co., London Ridley, M.R. (ed.): Anthony and Cleopatra, Arden Shakespeare, Methuen & Co., London Oliver, H.J. (ed.): Timon of Athens, Arden Shakespeare, Methuen & Co., London

Published on the occasion of the exhibition

PETER BLAKE A Life in Drawings and Watercolours 5 July to 8 September 2018 Waddington Custot 11 Cork Street London W1S 3 LT T. +44 (0)20 7851 2200 waddingtoncustot.com Monday to Friday 10 am – 6 pm Saturday 10 am – 4 pm All works © Peter Blake, 2018 © Waddington Custot, London, 2018 Published by Waddington Custot Co-ordinated by Jessica Ramsay Designed by Fraser Muggeridge studio ISBN-978–0–9955490–9–8