The Stanley Road screenprint
Signed by Paul Weller and Peter Blake
Paul Weller’s third solo album, Stanley Road, was released in 2005, and remains one of his best-loved albums. Peter Blake designed the instantly recognisable cover—a collage paying homage to childhood and influences. At the centre, Peter Blake’s portrait of a young Paul Weller crouches with the Stanley Road street sign in the background, holding a photograph of the older Paul (from a photograph by Lawrence Watson). Around this central image we see (in no particular order) a heart, a star and a target, ticket stubs, Aretha Franklin, the Stax finger-click logo, a postcard from Paris, John Lennon, George Best, a mirror laden scooter, a green bus, painted metal figurines of Small Faces’ Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, holiday snaps, Piccadilly Circus, poetry by Wilfred Owen, the number 8, and John William Waterhouse’s 1888 painting The Lady of Shalott.
Paul Weller talked about his admiration for Peter Blake in an interview with The Guardian in 2009: “The first thing I was aware of was his sleeve for Sgt Pepper. I just loved the detail. Then when I was a bit older, being such a 60s-centric freak, I went to exhibitions, bought books on Pop Art. Hearing Pete Townshend talk about it had a big impact. Having Peter Blake work on the sleeve for Stanley Road came about through Simon Halfon, who’s done all my sleeves. I thought someone like Peter would be unapproachable, but he was so down to earth. Simon and I told him what areas of his work we really liked – the collage work, which is his forte. So we brought in bits and pieces, and Peter added stuff. The cover is a painting of me as a kid, taken from an old photo, and in it I’m holding a photograph of me as I was then, in 1995. The only Peter Blake I own is a print of Stanley Road, which Peter gave me. And I’ve got a reproduction of the 1968 Babe Rainbow tin poster. Peter’s associated with the 60s but his work is like anything classic: it’s going to last. Such people might go underground but they don’t really go away. Another generation discovers them.”
In 2002, Peter Blake released this screen print in a limited edition of 250. Each print was signed by Peter Blake, and a small number were additionally signed by Paul Weller. The prints were made by Peter Blake’s screen-printer of choice, Brad Faine at Coriander Studios, one of the world’s leading specialist screen-printers.
The image measures 19×19 inches, with individual spot varnishes applied to specific areas of the image. This is a rare example signed by both Paul Weller and Peter Blake and numbered in pencil below the image area, and is supplied framed and ready to hang.
