Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This volume forms part of Tate Publishing's Modern Artists monographs. In a career spanning five decades, Peter Blake has established himself as one of the most influential and original artists working in Britain. Coming to prominence in the late 1950s and 60s his deployment of popular culture icons and consumer goods in his work earned him the title of 'father of pop'. His continued engagement with the technique of collage gave rise to one of the most iconic images of the 1960s, the cover he designed for The Beatles' @Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'. Preferring to work outside of art world trends, Blake has instinctively drawn from his own life experience to produce work that unabashedly celebrates sentimental themes such as love, magic and nostalgia.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• 1 Roots (p. 7)
• On the Balcony 1955-7 (p. 18)
• 2 Heroes (p. 23)
• Locker 1959 (p. 36)
• 3 Multiplicity (p. 41)
• Cover Design for 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' 1967 (p. 54)
• 4 Country Life (p. 59)
• Illustrations to Lewis Carroll's 'Through the Looking Glass' 1970-1 (p. 72)
• 5 Re-establishment (p. 79)
• The Wrestling Series 1961- (p. 88)
• 6 Youth and Age (p. 93)
• Encores 1996- (p. 108)
• Favourite Things: Fandom and Creativity in the Domestic Realm a Context for Peter Blake (p. 112)
• Notes (p. 122)
• Biography (p. 123)
• Index (p. 126)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Tate Publishing and Abrams here present the first three titles of a new series on living artists. With their vibrant illustrations and attractive layout, the books are a pleasure to see, and each artist's life, work, and influences are considered at a level of detail usually found only in major exhibition catalogs. The series is exemplary for packing a lot of content into relatively few pages, with the book retaining clarity and coherence by staying close to the facts. The writers avoid jargon and overarching theories and are careful about attributing influences. Interspersed are brief interviews, allowing the artists' own voices to come through. Of the three, Sarah Lucas is the standout because Collings (Blimey! From Bohemia to Britpop) is an exceptional writer associated with the generation of artists who emerged in 1990s Britain. He draws out the black humor beneath the surface of Lucas's deliberately disturbing art, which treats themes of gender and sexuality. The writing is clear without oversimplifying. The authors of the other volumes are also well chosen, and their texts never overshadow the artists. Bradley is the exhibition organizer at the Hayward Gallery, London, and she curated a 1997 retrospective on the Portuguese-born, London-based figurative painter Paula Rego at the Tate Liverpool. Rudd is exhibition curator at the Tate Liverpool, where she worked with pop-artist Peter Blake on his 2000 exhibition. Highly recommended for all art libraries and of interest to larger public libraries.-Michael Dashkin, PricewaterhouseCoopers, New York (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.