Born in 1932 in Dartford, Kent, Peter Blake studied at the Gravesend School of Art and the Royal College of Art, London. Following his first solo exhibition in 1962 at the Portal Gallery, his work has been exhibited regularly in one-man shows worldwide. His first retrospective exhibition was held as early as 1969 at the City Art Gallery, Bristol, with subsequent retrospectives at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (1973), at the Tate Gallery (1983), and in 2007/08 at the Tate Liverpool and the Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. In 1994 he was made the Third Associate Artist of the National Gallery, London. He was elected a member of the Royal Academy in 1981, and was awarded knighthood for his services to art in 2002. He lives and works in London.