Not currently on display at the V&A

Babe Rainbow

Screen Print
1968 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

'Babe Rainbow, a fictitious lady wrestler, is the most recent in a line of wrestlers I have painted', said Peter Blake. 'These include Irish Lord X, Doktor K Tortur, Kamikaze and Les Orchidées Noires. She is twenty-three years old and has broken her nose in the ring. She was born in New Cross, London and wrestles mainly in Europe and the USA as there have only been a few contests between lady wrestlers in London. She is the daughter of the notorious Doktor K Tortur.'

Born in Kent, Blake trained at the Royal College of Art. As a student he became fascinated with magazine covers, fairground art and similar popular ephemera. He utilised such material in collages and became a leading figure in British 'Pop' art of the 1960s. Blake's most famous work is the cover design for the Beatles LP Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. 'Babe Rainbow' was commissioned in an edition of 1000 by Dodo Designs in 1968.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleBabe Rainbow (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Tinplate, offset litho printed.
Brief description
Screen print, `Babe Rainbow' offset litho printed tinplate, England, printed for Dodo designs, designed by Peter Blake, 1968.
Physical description
Image of a woman wearing a white bikini, a headress with a rainbow motif, a necklace featuring the Union Jack and 'England', a belt featuring the St George's Cross and 'London', and a belt with various badges including one inscribed with 'In memory of the good old days 1788', one with a face in profile, one with a ship 'RM.S Berencaria', and one in the shape of a flower. Underneath the image are the words 'Babe Rainbow'. The border of the image is a rainbow. Offset litho printed on tinplate.
Dimensions
  • Height: 66.3cm (Note: Taken from the register)
  • Width: 43cm (Note: taken from register)
Style
Production typeLimited edition
Marks and inscriptions
  • BABE / RAINBOW (Text of poster on the front.)
  • Babe Rainbow by Peter Blake 1968 / Commissioned and distributed by Dodo Designs, 185 Westbourne / Grove London W.11. / "Babe Rainbow" a fictitious lady wrestler is the most recent in a line of wrestlers I have painted" said Peter Blake. "These include / Irish Lord X, Doktor K Tortur, Kamikaze and the Orchidées Noires." "She is twenty-three years old and has broken her nose in the ring. She was born in New Cross, London and wrestles mainly in / Europe and the USA as there have only been few contests / between lady wrestlers in London. She is the daughter of the / notorious Doktor K. Tortur. / Babe Rainbow was commissioned by Dodo Designs and is about the twelfth painting in a series of wrestlers living in the fictitious / world of Peter Blake. It is the first painting ever to be commiss-/ ioned for reproduction as a picture on tin. / Peter Blake's work includes magazine illustrations and many / designs for book jackets. He designed the record cover for the Sergeant Pepper Album and apart from painting the Beatles has / just completed The Monarch of the Glen, a painting commissioned by Paul McCartney. He is at present working on a painting for / "Mr Chow" a Chinese Restaurant in London. He was one of / twelve well-known painters recently commissioned by Lentheric / to paint his impression of the most beautiful woman in the world / to inspire a new Lentheric perfume. / He was born in Dartford, Kent in 1932 and studied at the Royal College of Art, London where he now teaches. He is also visiting / lecturer at Colchester and Walthamstow Schools of Art. In 1964 / he was commissioned to execute three murals for the Shakespeare / exhibition at Stratford on Avon. / Since 1960 Peter Blake has been represented in over 30 exhibitions / in the USA (New York, San Francisco, Dallas and Minneapolis), France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and the UK. His paintings / are also exhibited in Public Collections at the Museum of Modern / Art New York, The Tate Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum / Baltimore Museum of Fine Art, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation / Trinity College Cambridge, The British Council, City Art Gallery /Carlisle, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Arts Council / of Great Britain. / Made in England. (Printed on the back of the object.)
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
'Babe Rainbow, a fictitious lady wrestler, is the most recent in a line of wrestlers I have painted', said Peter Blake. 'These include Irish Lord X, Doktor K Tortur, Kamikaze and Les Orchidées Noires. She is twenty-three years old and has broken her nose in the ring. She was born in New Cross, London and wrestles mainly in Europe and the USA as there have only been a few contests between lady wrestlers in London. She is the daughter of the notorious Doktor K Tortur.'

Born in Kent, Blake trained at the Royal College of Art. As a student he became fascinated with magazine covers, fairground art and similar popular ephemera. He utilised such material in collages and became a leading figure in British 'Pop' art of the 1960s. Blake's most famous work is the cover design for the Beatles LP Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. 'Babe Rainbow' was commissioned in an edition of 1000 by Dodo Designs in 1968.
Collection
Accession number
M.141-1984

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
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