39.5 х 21.7 х 17.3 in. (100.33 x 55.12 x 43.94 cm.)
Considered the God Father of British Pop Art, Sir Peter Blake’s contribution to the movement cannot be overestimated. Blake's work reflects his fascination with all streams of popular culture, and the beauty to be found in everyday objects and surroundings. Many of his works feature found printed materials such as photographs, comic strips or advertising texts, combined with bold geometric patterns and the use of primary colours. The works perfectly capture the effervescent and optimistic ethos of the sixties and seventies, but are also strikingly fresh and contemporary. Similarly there is also a strain of sentimentality and nostalgia running throughout his work, with particular focus towards childhood innocence and reminiscence. Blake is renowned for his connection with the music industry, having produced iconic album covers for the Beatles, Paul Weller, The Who, and Oasis.
Since his emergence in the early 1960s as a key member of the burgeoning Pop Art movement, Peter Blake has been one of the best-known British artists of his generation. His 1961 Self Portrait with Badges, where he stands in his denim jeans and jacket, wearing Converse trainers and holding an Elvis album, is one of the iconic images of the time and is now in the Tate collection, but Peter Blake's reputation from the outset, reflecting his broad art education, was based on working across media. He has produced collage, sculpture, engraving and printmaking, as well as commercial art in the form of graphics and, notably, album covers.
Born in Dartford, Kent, Peter Blake studied at Gravesend School of Art before being accepted into the prestigious Royal College of Art in London. Peter Blake became a Royal Academician in 1981, a CBE in 1983 and in 2002 he received a knighthood for his services to art. Retrospectives of Blake's work were held at the Tate in 1983 and Tate Liverpool in 2008.
The chair being offered for sale at Artnet Auctions is a truly iconic piece of Pop. It was created in 2008 by Blake as part of the high profile charity auction held in support of the iconic Chelsea Arts Club, London. The chair, a cream painted Louis XVI style side chair, was given to the artist to customize - what he came up with was pure Blake magic and shows the artist’s typical fondness for popular culture. Blake has treated the cotton fabric coverings as canvases in their own right and, using colored felt tip pens and markers, he has created a complex layered composition of different elements, many of which reference earlier iconic works by the artist, such as Blake’s famous Tattooed Ladies and his Horse Act. These are further embellished with decorative motives such as Rainbows, Stars and Hearts. The overall affect is reminiscent of many of Blake’s most successful prints which are made up of layers of seemingly random images which nonetheless build up a coherent whole. Blake’s Late Period Jottings No. 1 is a true masterpiece of British Pop Art.