In 1993 Sir Peter Blake, one of Britain’s most celebrated living painters was invited to become the third Associate artist at the National Gallery in London. The aim was straightforward: to produce new work in response to the collection and secondly to have an exhibition of work after his two-year residencey. The first thing that Blake did was to walk through the 66 rooms of the gallery, journeying past each and every picture. After this three hour wander many ideas emerged including bringing together the gallery’s Venuses on the beach at Weymouth Bay (the setting for John Constable’s 1816-17 painting also in the National Gallery), togther with some of the most famous Venuses of art history. The resulting work, The Venuses’ Outing to Weymouth will appear as a highlight of the Modern & Post-War British Art on 12 June. Click ahead to examine the work in more detail.
Modern & Post-War British Art
12-13 June 2017 | London