The British pop artist Peter Blake is perhaps best-known for his cover art for Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the classic 1968 Beatles album, wherein the Fab Four posed amid a collaged gathering of twentieth century icons, including Marilyn, who has frequently appeared in his work throughout his long career.
This 1997 work, M,M – consisting of three identical images of Marilyn in a yellow bathing suit, taken around the time of How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), and set atop a bold, geometric pattern, painted on enamel – is featured in the 89-year-old’s latest exhibition, Peter Blake: Time Traveller, at Waddington Custot on Cork Street in London’s West End until August 13th. (Per the current restrictions, please book in advance here.)
Further works in this series are published in Peter Blake: Collage, a book accompanying this exhibition. “Marilyn Monroe is an icon for me,” the artist has said. “Certainly, if you’re going to choose a classic blonde pin-up, it’s got to be Marilyn.”
The Marilyn Report 