SIR PETER BLAKE, R.A. | FOOTBALL PLAYER I

Sotheby's, Olympia, 16 February 2005, lot 211, where acquired by the previous owner

Their sale, Sotheby's, London, 14 June 2016, lot 191

The British Pop artist Peter Blake is best known for co-creating the cover art for the Beatles’ album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. One of the most prominent figures of the international Pop movement, his paintings and his collages often feature images from popular culture, most famously his badge-adorned, tie-wearing boys, bearing the mementoes and tributes to their heroes and pin-ups.

Studying at the Royal Collage of Art from 1953-1956, he frequently made overt reference to popular culture, including items such as comic strips, the cinema, the funfair and the circus. His work throughout the fifties is mostly spirited, playful and full of humour. Much of his subject matter revolves around past times and objects that ordinary people have experienced and enjoyed in their daily lives or as entertainment.

The Footballer I shows a young man, his moustache visible, dressed in the tie of his football club, its initial emblazoned on the front. A small, fun painting, it is also patriotic. There are many references to Great Britain; Blake has included the Union Jack in the background and on the pocket of the blazer are the initials “ER” (Elizabeth Regina), also bedecked in the colours of the Union Jack.