Peter Blake was born in Dartford, Kent and studied at Gravesend Technical College and Art School. After National Service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) he studied painting at the Royal College of Art in London.

He was awarded a travelling scholarship to study popular art and visited Holland, Spain, Belgium, France and Italy.

Blake had his first solo exhibition in 1962 at the Portal Gallery in London. A meeting with The Beatles led to a commission to design the album cover for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967; he later designed the poster for the Live Aid concert, the world’s largest ever multi-national pop event held in aid of African famine relief, and in 1995 designed the cover for Paul Weller’s Stanley Road album.

He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Royal College of Art, elected a Royal Academician in 1981 and knighted in 2002.

Further reading:
Natalie Rudd, Peter Blake, Tate Publishing 2003

www.royalacademy.org.uk

Glossary

  • Design

    The arrangement of elements or details in an artefact or a work of art.

  • Painting

    Work of art made with paint on a surface. Often the surface, also called a support, is a tightly stretched piece of canvas, paper or a wooden panel. Painting involves a wide range of techniques and materials, along with the artist's intellectual concerns effecting the content of a work.

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