After national service in the RAF, he went on to the prestigious Royal College of Art in 1953. He was taught by Ruskin Spear, an artist whose Dada-inspired work encouraged him to plunder popular culture or subjects. Blake said: “From about 1954 I realised that I could paint the subjects I liked such as wrestlers and strippers and the rest of it.”
This was no doubt influenced by the Black Eyes and Lemonade exhibition as well as his contact with Eduardo Paolozzi, Richard Hamilton and his exposure to the work of Kurt Schwitters. On the Balcony (1955–1957) is an important early work showing his interest in combining images from pop culture with fine art. It appears to be a collage but is wholly painted.
Later Blake's paintings would include imagery from advertisements, music hall entertainment and wrestlers, mixed with collaged elements. His work was shown at the ICA’s Young Contemporaries exhibition of 1961 alongside David Hockney, Allen Jones, Derek Boshier and Peter Phillips.
He came to wider public attention when he featured in Ken Russell’s Pop Goes The Easel film, broadcast on BBC television in 1962 with Pauline Boty, Derek Boshier and Peter Phillips. From 1963, Blake was represented by Robert Fraser (‘Groovy Bob’) bringing him into contact with leading figures of popular culture and pop stars such as Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney. This led to his first commission to design an album cover for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band with his then wife Jann Haworth.
He has since designed record sleeves for the Band Aid single, Do They Know It’s Christmas?, Paul Weller’s Stanley Road and the Ian Dury tribute album Brand New Boots and Panties (Blake was Dury’s tutor at Walthamstow School of Art in the early 1960s). In 2002 he was knighted at Buckingham Palace for his services to art.
Buy his artworks from mainstream galleries here.
