Tulip (after Jacob van Walscappelle Flowers in a Glass Vase)

Location

Country: Turkey
City: Ankara
Place: British Embassy

In 2017 Gavin Turk chose one of the most iconic symbols of the Netherlands to focus on for an exhibition at the Museum van Loon, following a visit to his friend the artist Philippa van Loon. Originating in central Asia, tulips were admired in Islamic gardens in Persia (Iran), blooming across the ancient Silk Route and in Anatolia. They are viewed as a symbol of exploration, trade and migration. In the 16th century the Netherlands had a great trade history with the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) and it was the Van Loon family who were heavily involved in this trade route. Taking this story as a source of inspiration for his exhibition, Turk chose  24 contemporary artists to contribute to the exhibition — each focusing on depictions of tulips. Nineteen of the artists created prints showing tulips in different iterations, from hyperrealistic portraits to ‘exploded flowers’, from frozen blocks of flowers to tulip emojis.

Peter Blake is one of the leading British artists of the twentieth century. He was born in 1932 in Dartford and studied at Gravesend Technical College and School of Art from 1946 to 1951. He continued his studies at the Royal College of Art from 1953 to 1956, where he was one of the first British artists to produce works inspired by popular culture and folk art, later to be labelled ‘Pop art’. The incorporation of elements of popular cultural ephemera into his art is characteristic of his works from the mid 1950s onwards. Blake moved to the West Country with his wife in 1969 and co-founded the Brotherhood of Ruralists in 1975. His work of this period is characterised by an interest in themes of the Victorian period, such as fairy paintings, and in 1970 he produced illustrations for Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-glass. Blake has also designed covers for a number of albums and singles, including Paul Weller’s Stanley Road of 1995, the Band Aid single of 1984 and, most famously, The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band of 1967. He was elected a Royal Academician in 1981 and awarded a CBE in 1983. He lives and works in London.

Places

Subjects

Materials & Techniques

Artist

Peter Blake (1932 - )

Title

Tulip (after Jacob van Walscappelle Flowers in a Glass Vase)

Portfolio Title

Turkish Tulips

Edition

7/25

Date

2017

Medium

Screenprint

Dimensions

height: 36.6 cm, width: 29.5 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from The House of Fairy Tales, January 2018

Inscription

below image: 7/25 Peter Blake

Provenance

The House of Fairy Tales; purchased by the GAC 2018

GAC number

18749/2