Sir Peter Blake has published a new set of prints, Homage to Damien Hirst – Butterfly Man.
According to the Blake : ‘Damien Hirst has used butterflies in a lot in his work, and it was pointed out that ‘the butterfly man’ owes more than a little to his work, so I was happy to dedicate him in homage to Damien. I am an enormous admirer of Damien’s work.’
The new works use vintage postcard images as backdrops to his collage of the butterfly man, dozens of butterflies and an assortment of eclectic characters from the miscellaneous print paraphernalia that Blake has hoarded over the years.
The Butterfly Man, Hollywood captures the golden age of Hollywood glamour with the Hollywood hills and mini-mansions. In the foreground along with the butterfly man are numerous Hollywood legends including Charlie Chaplin, James Dean, Laurel & Hardy, Errol Flynn, Elvis, Marilyn and Judy Garland.
Blake returns to home ground for Butterfly Man, Eastbourne, celebrating the glory of the British seaside holiday. The butterfly man orchestrates his pets in front of the statue of Saigo Takamori (famous samurai) in The Butterfly Man, Tokyo, along with Japanese ladies in kimonos and visitors such as African tribesmen and a European lady in formal costume. The butterfly man also travels to North Africa, where he releases his butterflies in the souk at Tunis and finally, he goes to Venice and the piazza San Marco.
Each print is a silkscreen in 24 colours and 2 glazes on paper measuring 32.5 x 29.5 inches, from a signed edition of 100. 75 from the edition are being released as a boxed set priced at £7,500, and the remaining 25 prints are available individually at £1,800 each. The Hollywood and Venice images might sell out pretty quickly, so interested buyers should move fairly quickly.