’75 Years of The Beano’ is a Limited Edition Silkscreen with glazes by pop artist Sir Peter Blake.
Price: £2500
Limited edition of 175
Silkscreen with glazes
Peter Blake has collaborated with The Beano to create a special limited edition print celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the much-loved comic. Coriander Studio was initially approached by The Beano’s publisher DC Thomson in early 2013, after Blake’s work was referenced extensively by Wayne Hemingway in the creation of the new style guide for The Beano. The artist also readily acknowledges the great visual influence that the comic has had on his own work, making him an ideal choice for this 75th Anniversary Project. Further conversations led Blake to focus upon the Bash Street Kids comic strip, which was devised by Beano editor George Moonie in 1954. Moonie had based the strip on the view from his office window in Dundee, where he would see schoolchildren pouring out of the gates of Dundee High School.
Taking the Bash Street Kids as his inspiration, Blake has recreated a scene representing Moonie’s view from the Beano office. The comic strip children have been substituted for the High School pupils seen against the backdrop of Dundee High School.
Though based around the concept of The Bash Street Kids flooding out of school, all the key Beano characters appear in the image including Dennis the Menace, Gnasher, Billy Wizz, Lord Snooty and Minnie the Minx. Blake mixes old and new illustrations showing how the Beano has developed over 75 years.