The real thing? Blake's Coke art

Pop art has always used consumer brands. But does it matter when consumer brands use pop art?

The renowned British artist Sir Peter Blake, best known for his Sergeant Pepper album cover for the Beatles, has unveiled his latest work this morning.

The painting was commissioned by the Coca-Cola corporation. Indeed, the iconic Coke bottle takes-up most of the work.

On a corner of Jubilee Gardens on London's South Bank, Sir Peter Blake was putting the finishing touches to his latest work.

The godfather of British pop art has spent the last week creating a giant collage standing 20 feet high.

But is it a painting or a billboard? The work was commissioned by Coca-Cola. Sir Peter's brief - to represent the feelgood "Coke side of life".

His paintings have included advertisements before, but this time his patron's iconic bottle takes up a third of the work.

Sir Peter Blake is one of Britain's most famous living artists. The cover he did for the Beatles is arguably as famous as the songs inside.

He was paid only £200 for his most celebrated work, and has yet to receive any further royalties.

Let's hope his new paymasters prove more generous.

Fallen idols?

Eyebrows were raised in some quarters at the news that Peter Blake had delivered a commission from the Coca-Cola corporation.

Hadn't the godfather of British pop art sold out by providing a piece of artwork for one of the largest corporations in the world?

The fact is, though, that artists have always sold their skills to enhance the reputation of the wealthy and powerful, from kings and queens to international corporations.

Some criticised singer Bob Dylan, "the voice of a generation", when in 1996 he allowed his seminal The Times They Are A-Changing to be used in a Bank of Montreal advertisement.

He went on to appear in an ad for the lingerie company Victoria's Secret in 2004. And the following year he agreed that his new album should only be available for sale at branches of the Starbucks coffee chain.

Although Moby did not individually approve the use of each track in a commercial, his 1999 album Play was the first album to have all of its tracked licensed for use in movies, TV or commercials.

By contrast, the Rolling Stones probably did approve the use of their 1981 song Start Me Up in the marketing campaign for the launch of Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system.

And anarchist musicians Chumbawumba surprised many of their followers when, in 1997, they signed a recording contract with music behemoth EMI (they went on to store a major hit with Tubthumping).

Who are your sell-out favourites? Is there an artist who, for you, represented all higher things in life, only to apparently sell his or her soul? Email us your suggestions by clicking here.

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